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LETTER: Risks surrounding development must be considered

Fire could occur during construction of Banks Crescent buildings
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Dear Editor:

The recent luxury condo construction fire at the six-storey Waters Edge condos on Truswell Road in Kelowna was devastating and put many residents and fire fighters at risk.

Apparently it was started by a roofer with an open flame that got out of control.

Who’s to say this won’t or can’t happen during the five- to seven-year construction period of the proposed five buildings for the 380-unit condo development in the dry gully of 13610 Banks Crescent?

The density of this development in the gully location surrounded by trees and foliage is even more susceptible to catching fire than the Kelowna development which was on a main thoroughfare.

This is a scary reality to the residents who live in the surrounding neighbourhood.

Is council willing to risk potential devastation to people’s lives and houses, the hatchery and the environmentally sensitive area with only narrow evacuation routes through existing residential areas with 100 per cent increase in traffic?

How do we as residents protect ourselves if council allows this to be rezoned to high density residential?

It appears to me that staff has not done enough due diligence on the impact and potential risk of this development on lower town.

Why hadn’t the district staff and the developer done due diligence on the impact to the hatchery rather than stating there would be no impact.

In 1996 the council of the day felt that because the hatchery was in an ‘environmentally sensitive zone,’ they reclassified the property to farmland to give further protection.

They felt it was a valuable asset to the community and therefore rezoned 13610 Banks Crescent to farmland to prevent future development of the property into residential. What has changed since 1996?

Diana Smith

Summerland