To the editor:
What’s the great hurry for this wildly frantic construction and wholesale change of Kelowna’s character? The public who voted you in and pay your salaries were voting for change. That certainly didn’t happen! The same lack of regard by the city over deep concerns of the public continues!
The deception continues over Cedar Avenue park and the latest fiasco of public park rezoning is well known. After all efforts of the public fail, there is the farce of the “public hearing” well manipulated by the city and therefore a waste of time.
Twelve years of the same agenda, two mayors and much the same council ignored public input and allowed free reign with staff suggestions, variances to developers and gratuities to the tourist sector!
Mayor Basran you already have your wish for a larger tax base with the thousands of welcomed new residents all joining us in traffic jams and searching for parking. Parallel parking stalls-according to shop owners on Bernard have reduced parking by some 30 per cent! I understand that water systems and sewer capacity are being reviewed — how about solving the decades-long argument of residents wanting to walk along the beach front?
Are we really committed already to four highrises on the main street, why allow a variance to 33 stories on the first one?
There are likely others that have been allowed but the most outrageous high and huge overbuilding apparently approved on Truswell Road is the worst! I think we all remember the fire of 2003!!
Blocking traffic at Truswell would not help any emergency evacuation!
The large number of candidates in this election clearly indicates the urgent necessity to change this crew! You can meet the candidates at Mission Hall on Oct. 16, 6:30 to 9 p.m. Please don’t vote by name recognition which has happened and we can do better than the usual 30-40 per cent voter turnout!
Positive, well-considered growth is good, with high rises in the right places and change is a fact of life.
Basics first, then area sympathetic engineering preserving individuality. Overbuilding in all directions has already diminished attractions that brought so many and kept them here.
Enormous care needs to be taken by all of us to assure that individuality and the character of Kelowna doesn’t disappear completely!!!
My car radio the other day said politicians are like diapers — must be changed regularly.
JL Lambrick
Kelowna
