Editor:
At last week’s public hearing it was interesting to see a presenter in support of a 51-foot tall building housing an industrial brewery operation and adjacent 200-seat restaurant proposal for the Southlands comparing it to Granville Island and Steveston as a public attraction.
I work at Granville Island. The place, popular as ever, is a zoo. Traffic gridlock is the norm and although it is served by both transit and a ferry system, parking is difficult to find.
The same applies to Steveston. On any given sunny weekend, it is overrun with tourists and locals, and again, cars continually circle looking for magic parking. With this proposal, we are asked to reduce the number of parking spots.
This seems like a conundrum: Tourism Delta and the Delta Chamber of Commerce are advocating approval mentioning that it will attract hordes of visitors and at the same time we are asked to reduce parking spaces.
Is this what we had in mind when the Southlands residential project was approved? We heard of the inclusion of small businesses such as bakeries, hairdressers, a book shop, a coffee shop and others that cater to community needs. Now before a single construction nail has been driven, we are asked to approve a rezoning for an industrial brewery with its silos, truck deliveries and bottling/warehousing components.
Even though it is appreciated that Four Winds Brewery is a company that is a good employer, makes great beer and supports community events, it is an industrial operation and should not be approved to occupy half of the allotted commercial space at the Southlands.
Peter Nemeth
