Infrastructure huge concern
Dear editor: At the committee of the whole meeting on Oct. 25 regarding Infrastructure costs for the proposed 424-unit condo development on Banks Crescent, it was very good to hear the thoughtful questions and discussions by council to better understand the impact.
District staff had been asked to present infrastructure costs for discussion.
However, only the potential benefits from the direct off-site works and fees from the development cost charges (DCC) were presented, not the more important aspect of infrastructure and ongoing maintenance costs to the town and residents who will all pay whether or not the development is completed.
The estimated $1.4 million DCC fees for road improvements to upgrade Solly to Latimer and Latimer to Banks Crescent cannot be used by the district to upgrade these two roads as they are not on the current district project list. Who will then pay?
With regard to road upgrades and costs, it was interesting to hear that there has been no traffic study done on Latimer where the 2,000 additional trips per day will originate from.
Staff's comment at the meeting that “there are only a handful of houses” on the street was offense in its dismissive tone, as 2,000 car trips/day will have huge impact on the very short local road of 12 houses with steep driveways.
Staff also stated that the local hills and corners are a challenge and that not all road issues will be addressed. Why then even consider a development of this density in this location?
The traffic studies also did not take into consideration the additional traffic on Latimer north to Peach Orchard that many residents use to go to town, or the traffic coming from Highway 97 along Lakeshore Drive and up Macdonald and Gillespie.
Currently there are no infrastructure costs provided by the developer allocated to upgrade Latimer to Peach Orchard or Solly to Lakeshore. Who will pay for them?
Please, residents of Summerland, council and staff, drive around these steep, narrow, windy roads and try to envision 2,000 more car trips per day on them and five to seven years or construction traffic navigating the twists and turns of Solly Road
Scary at best...risky and dangerous at worst. Diana Smith Summerland