Editor:
I write as a concerned citizen and taxpayer, in hopes that the new mayor and council will recognize the dire plight and begin to act in the interests of the starving merchants and long-suffering business owners who must be on the verge of business suicide on our White Rock waterfront.
The long-suffering citizens of White Rock deserve better than this unsupervised kindergarten construction school that we witness on a daily basis. Fencing goes up. Machines move around. Pipes and equipment get delivered. Parking spaces magically disappear. Train crossings become barricades. Pedestrian walkways are torn up.
But workmen remain invisible for days, weeks and months.
The Eiffel Tower was built in just over two years. The Empire State Building was completed in just over a year. The Port Mann bridge took about four years. The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in just over four years.
How long will it take for the city of White Rock to construct a public washroom? We don’t know? Will it ever be finished?
How long will it take for the City of White Rock to complete eight new pedestrian railway crossings? We don’t know. No completion date is promised.
How long it take for pedestrians to regain unrestricted access to the treasured seafront promenade of the City of White Rock? We don’t know. No completion date is available to the public.
How long must the desperate small merchants of the City of White Rock cling to their hopes and well-deserved dream of making a sustainable living?
We don’t know.
Mark Kroeker, White Rock
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I recently enjoyed a delicious meal at the Little India restaurant, a longtime favourite just east of the pier on Marine Drive.
Like other businesses at the beach, Little India has been seriously impacted by the prolonged construction at Memorial Park, and White Rock city appears to be doing nothing to mitigate the damage done to these hardworking small businesses.
I hope that our new council does not just pay lip service to a more caring and inclusive attitude, and will provide tax, parking or licensing breaks to these businesses to help them stay afloat.
We need to support these businesses as customers, as often as possible, but the city should also be supporting them, to ensure that they can continue to operate in our community.
Brenda Worden, White Rock