Dear Editor:
I am writing to voice my concerns with the proposed rezoning and development for 13610 Banks Crescent.
We live on the end of Latimer Avenue that would bear all traffic to this location during and after the construction, but there are considerations beyond the immediate local impact.
We’ve heard reference to long wait lists for seniors’ housing. What type? Seniors’ housing is a broad term. Will this proposal meet actual needs?
My mother has lived and thrived in Summerland for the last decade.
At 89, she is able to pop out for a grocery item, walk to the post office, credit union, church, library, medical centre, to shop locally as well as walk to her volunteer job at the famous thrift store.
She is not a wealthy senior, so the independence she has had living near the town core has meant she has not had to consider the availability of HandiDart, expense of a taxi, or imposition on friends and neighbours to go about her very full life.
Services have also been proposed for the Banks Crescent development to allow the site to be self-contained.
Can Summerland support another retail/service area?
Are these proposed services to be provided as retail units available to lease? First, there would need to be businesses willing to locate to this isolated area, and second, they would need to generate enough revenue to pay their bills.
What would happen to these on-site amenities if these units are empty?
How would that affect the “aging in place” experience of seniors who find themselves at the bottom of a gulch with a two-plus kilometre trek with steep hills to the existing town centre?
Will roads need to be upgraded and private property damage repaired at Summerland taxpayers’ expense?
Solly Road is identified as a local road in Schedule F of the Official Community Plan and has no cycling/walking lanes and only two short sections of sidewalk.
If Solly is to be upgraded, who will pay?
Latimer Avenue south of Solly Road — Ground Zero.
The only road leading to what would be a driving-dependent area with upwards of 700 residents.
Gas lines and utilities are very close to the edge of the road.
Driveways on either side are steep, and some houses are very close to the road. To widen the road, add sidewalks and mitigate damage to existing properties will not be a small undertaking. Who will pay?
New to Summerland in 2014, we were fine with a mayor and council elected on a platform of preserving agricultural land and thoughtful development.
I hope your decision on this rezoning and project proposal reflects those values. Please reconsider your previous support and say no to this high density proposal and yes to thoughtful development with a strong town centre.
Carolyn Courtemanche
Summerland