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LETTER: Development will change Trout Creek

Summerland neighbourhood is quickly losing its charm
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Dear Editor:

Of course, most Trout Creek residents will be disappointed with the dense development plan which has been approved for 5418 Nixon Rd. at the Feb. 26 council meeting.

Trout Creek is quickly losing its charm.

Some council members, Erin Carlson, Janet Peake, Doug Holmes plus our mayor seemed deaf to the pleas of residents. It comes down to developers being allowed to shape our town in a way we don’t want. Does greed rule? It seems so.

At the council meeting, we Trout Creek residents heard that “we should trust the process,” meaning the development process.

How can we when we’ve been duped so many times before?

We’ve had grandiose assurances. Lighthouse Landing is a case in point. It was supposed to be a jewel of planning.

Where are the promised beautiful plantings between the development and the park? Why are the houses jammed together with no thought of viewscapes. Why was the developer allowed to squeeze in more lots than originally promised? Why wasn’t there a huge penalty for doing this? Why was the fine for illegally cutting trees so puny? No deterrent, just the cost of doing business.

An earlier promise was broken, too. The zoning of where the Trout Creek RV Centre is now located was supposed to be a motor hotel (tourist commercial.)

This zoning was changed to recreational vehicle sales and repair lot. There were supposed to be lovely plantings screening the lot. Can you find them?

Then there’s the development on Johnson Street, which many have described as being “super-ugly.”

The promise was for beautiful homes on land romantically called “The Meadows.”

Residents of Trout Creek didn’t object to 5418 Nixon Rd. being changed from A1, agriculture small parcel, to RSD2, but we didn’t want the squeezed-together RSD1 designation for the small lot sizes that don’t fit into the surrounding neighbourhood, which are all RSD2 or larger.

Residents are fearful that this development will set the tone for future planning: more jammed-together houses wrecking an area we cherish.

Marilyn Hansen

Summerland