Dear Editor:
There are many supporters for Summerland’s growth strategy which represents very good short-term thinking, as it allows a compact town with minimal infrastructure costs.
However, we should be thinking long term (meaning 40 or 50 years) in which case this strategy is very poor as it assumes that we will always continue to import food.
For example, with droughts and depleting aquifers, I would not count on California continuing to export food.
Therefore, we must save our prime agricultural land and densify our downtown core by eliminating barriers such as building height restrictions and infilling wherever possible.
George Brake
Summerland