Editor:
I attended the information meeting on Feb. 21 on the Delta Sky high-rise proposal on Scott Road and came back with very little information.
I do know that the developer is Maple Leaf Homes, which is owned by the Sharma family that donated more than $20,000 to Mayor George Harvie’s Achieving for Delta slate.
Delta is providing tax exemptions and permit waivers to encourage "high density development with low environmental" impact on the Scott Road corridor.
The Delta Sky proposal is asking for a 19 per cent reduction in parking, almost 25 per cent reduction in indoor amenity space and a whopping 70 per cent reduction in the common outdoor amenity space (the latter is supposed to be 14,467 square feet, but the developer is asking for it to be reduced to 4,167 square feet).
Evidently, the traffic impact is being presented as virtually zero, and Delta’s own staff members said, "There is one bus on the route."
What was promised with the large donations? How could city hall even contemplate the variances considering its own mandate of "no environmental impact?"
Why are taxpayers giving tax exemptions and permit waivers to developers, while we get a three per cent -- sorry, 2.99 per cent -- tax increase?
The path laid out is clear: "Achieving for Developers" is on the loose.
Moneca Kolvyn
