An open letter to the White Rock Mayor Wayne Baldwin.
I am a White Rock resident who has been seeking a solution to an unsightly mess that I have been subject to since I moved into my condo on Marine Drive.
Unfortunately, my unit faces rear. Unlike the units that enjoy ocean views, mine is of a rat-invested back lane that is in continual state of mess and full of horrible smells. The recycling and garbage containers for multiple commercial properties are in no way kept on their properties and put out once a week for pickup.
These are businesses that, to my understanding, have been for over 20 years disregarding the bylaws that are in place to allow residents and visitors to enjoy our city. This is what I was told after a phone conversation and 60-minute sit-down a city department manager.
The city recently completed a street restoration project on Victoria Avenue, which included a nice rock-looking concrete feature along the length of the retaining wall. The thought that went into this could not have included thinking we would then have this horrible view of garbage, recycling and rats.
I believe our “Unsightly Premises and Graffiti Abatement Bylaw” should allow our bylaw department to require businesses who are responsible to manage their recycling and garbage in a way that it does not continue to cause this kind of unsightly nuisance.
John Kopchia, White Rock