Editor: There have been several letters recently regarding the proposed new building at the corner of Glover Road and Mavis Avenue.
I do not believe this is a money grab,or an attempt to turn Fort Langley into a strip mall or downtown Vancouver type of neighbourhood. If the developer’s only motive was money, and he had no interest in a real vision of the future of Fort Langley, he could have invested his money in any number of Metro Vancouver areas and already had a plain commercial building already under construction without any hassle and perhaps a more profitable situation.
The historical context and heritage of Fort Langley is often mentioned.
Is not commerce a huge part of the history? Was Fort Langley not founded on trade, fishing and forestry?
With those industries gone, is the village to cease being a viable place for small businesses to start and grow, and instead become Barkerville or the Burnaby Village Museum?
The height guidelines, as I understand them, came about in the early 1990s.
A part of any community’s future, growth and vision must include revisiting past plans and amending them to suit the changes that occur (businesses closing or burning down). Everyone wants to have less parking on the streets and no developer is going to build a two-storey building with a parkade under it, because it is not feasible.
To make the leap — that because this proposal has come forward the developer has plans to build three-storey buildings all down Glover Road, or that those (like me) who think it is a nice design and would be good for that corner, wish to see major corporate retailers in Fort Langley — is at least a little over the top, if not obtuse.
I took a couple of walks up and down Glover Road this week looking at the buildings. The two, three-storey buildings on Glover are among the nicest.
A couple of the smaller buildings are plain eyesores. You cannot overshadow a two-storey building with a three-storey building, and the site is nowhere near close enough to the community hall to have any effect on it.
Jamie Clark
Langley
