Editor:
Re: Mayor apologizes for city hall errors, Oct. 17.
I am pretty sure there was a collective response of shock and disbelief amongst White Rock residents, upon reading about Mayor Wayne Baldwin’s apology to a homeowner.
Mayor Baldwin, sorry does not cut it all the time. Your planning department needs to be proactive and sufficiently staffed and supervised. They need to be held accountable for their mistakes.
I have often heard the planning department state that they were not aware of the loophole that the developer used! Is it not their responsibility to be aware of the possible loopholes and close them so that the homeowners are not surprised? I remember attending one of the council meetings and pointing out that I was quite concerned about the ‘oops, we did not know that’ response from the planning department.
I was also surprised the homeowner in the article, Chris Small, was told any legal action the city undertakes may not change anything.
Mayor Baldwin, it is not the city taking the legal action I would be worried about. I would worry about possible legal action against the city, councillors and planning department. I’m sure the taxpayers would end up paying for that in the end.
Please let us prevent that by holding your planning staff accountable and demand proactive planning from them.
Aroon Shah, White Rock
• • •
I, too, have called White Rock City Hall with bylaw concerns and have received no response in any timely manner – or with any resolve in the last eight months.
It would seem City of White Rock has a very big ‘backlog’ problem.
This breach of proper building and development bylaws poses a security risk for my children or anyone living in these residences that are affected.
Cindy Small, White Rock
