Editor:
White Rock residents have every reason to be concerned about a new development proposal that dictates fundamental changes to the city’s official community plan and its recently endorsed zoning bylaws.
Ankenman Marchand Architects, on behalf of developers Georgia Laine, has applied to construct a six-storey complex on the longtime White Rock Muffler property at Marine Drive and Oxford Street, an area zoned for a maximum of three storeys. This application can only be seen as something likely to open the floodgates of highrise development all along White Rock’s beachfront.
Most people will support commercial improvement along Marine Drive, provided it has an acceptable face. But is a six-storey twin-tower complex acceptable? Definitely not.
Our OCP and building-height restrictions were designed to meet the expressed wishes, perceived needs and aesthetic expectations of the White Rock community at large. They were not intended be trampled underfoot simply to meet a developer’s profit objectives.
Like many other desirable residential communities, White Rock has shown in recent times that it is vulnerable to having inappropriate and unacceptable developments forced through the approval process by every means available to the developer. This must not be allowed to happen again.
Our residents need to voice their opinions and take an active part in what goes on in our city, today and for the future. It is now critical that everyone having an opinion be present at the developer’s public meeting at White Rock Community Centre April 5, from 6-8 p.m.
Thomas White, White Rock