The following letter was sent to Delta Mayor and council and copied to Delta Optimist.
I write to respectfully express my opposition to the application for mixed-use building LU009302.
I also, and primarily, wish to comment on your failure to hold a public hearing into this application.
Development LU009302:
* Has no relationship to the village of Ladner
* Does not respect the historic nature of Ladner
* Has massing that is more appropriate for downtown Vancouver
* Has a design that has no heritage value
* Is too high
* Provides exemptions for parking in a village already struggling for parking space.
There are two additional and important issues that I believe council should consider:
There is a flawed opinion that density brings business. If that were the case, the last 10 years of significant infill; the building of multiple townhouse and apartment complexes; and the build-out of Marina Gardens would have done the trick. Density does not bring business: having a product people want to purchase brings business.
The historic communities of Steveston, Fort Langley, Nelson and others protect their village core. They do not allow height or density or size to impact that historic core and to negatively impact the heritage value of the villages. Why does Delta?
The development proposed by the Official Community Plan is obviously meant to create a new Ladner, a Ladner that does not need to reflect its past and a Ladner that flies in the face of what the people of this community want to see. Why? Why are you doing this to our beloved village?
I would also like to say that your failure to hold a public hearing is shocking. The legislation that now permits this decision is flawed and simply because it is there does not mean a council or a planner must - or should - use it.
A public hearing is the right of the people. It is the single most important interface with the public that a council undertakes. In fact, it is the only official interface and is critical to the development of neighbourhood and community. The fact that councillors have decided to deny the right of the people to speak before them is shocking and is in my opinion an abuse of the public trust. It is a true assault on the democratic process.
I urge mayor and council to deny LU009302, or at the very least, reverse your position, grant the public its right and hold a public hearing on the application.
Vicki Huntington
