Both sides on the Southlands issue will be ramping up their efforts to sway opinion during the lead up to the public hearing this October.
A letter published on Wednesday here completely missed the point about the ability to ride a bike between Boundary Bay and other parts of Tsawwassen. Routes from 56th Street would take small roads and paths to the beach, Centennial Beach proper, or otherwise.
These routes are not about time saving whatsoever. They are about ease of access and choice, opening the greater community, because, believe it or not, Boundary Bay is not the centre of Tsawwassen.
Peter Nemeth seems to think an increased population of bikers and walkers through the Southlands would put the plan in danger of not being pee friendly.
Back to the drawing board, Century! As my mom used to say, "Just hold it!" Luckily you won't have to because if Nemeth was paying attention, he would know there will be public washrooms at the Market Square.
A series of traditional anti development arguments were presented by Southlands the Facts co-founder Richard Kunz last Friday in this paper. This was a more standard representation of a repetitive fear tactic strategy. In this letter you get your act of God/disaster reference on flooding, which I suppose would not effect the existing communities of Boundary Bay and Beach Grove. You get your economics and viability of farming shtick. If Kunz was paying attention to "facts," he would know $9 million has been committed by the developer to get the land active.
But wait, there's more! The traffic intersection quip does not have a fact in it ... typical. In reality, a study developed by an independent traffic engineer in conjunction with the Corporation of Delta suggested even with robust build-out in the OCP, including the TFN development, that a right turn lane may be needed and Century will pick up the tab for that. Hardly traffic gridlock! And, of course, no true opponent would forget about the Pacific Flyway. Kunz suggested he would have almost considered a bike ride to the heart of the Southlands property recently but his wife reminded him of the Ramsar designation.
He somehow implies that migratory birds are cool with the existing Boundary Bay and Beach Grove communities, but would have to re-route or something if development occurs on a relatively small footprint of the Southlands.
In some of the anti-Southlands propaganda floating around out there comes this beauty: "Southlands is immediately adjacent to Boundary Bay Regional Park, which forms a crucial part of the Pacific Flyway." Boundary Bay Regional Park has never, nor will it ever be, a crucial part of the Pacific Flyway, so just drop it, OK? While it is true that Boundary Bay itself is a resting spot for migratory shorebirds, the Pacific Flyway is hundreds of kilometres wide and thousands of kilometres long. Migratory birds fly over your house, over the Town Centre Mall, over the airport, over the Southlands, over greenhouses in Ladner and all kinds of other weird places. They know what they are doing and deserve more credit.
Tsawwassen is in need of a renovation. This requires vision. I hope you can find time to have your say at the public hearing.
