Not enough family homes

Dear editor: I usually make a point of not directly commenting on statements made by those in local elected office but must after reading Mayor Peter Waterman’s comments last week where he states: “This council has consistently sought information before making a decision” and “You have to have all the information before you can make a decision.” I find this puzzling at best. This mayor and council made the most important decision in 30 years regarding the long-term planning of our community at their first meeting!

Council withdrew the application to remove land from the Agricultural Land Reserve that for the most part was fully serviced and in the immediate downtown area.

This planning initiative was the result of a year-long community involved survey complete with workshops, on line intuitive exercises and open houses.

It is my understanding the Agricultural Land Commission was also involved throughout the process.

The entire project got “blown out of the water” by the catchy social media driven slogan, “Stop the Swap.”

Regardless of where your passion lies regarding the ALR, don’t you think a bit of reflection and time to allow these new councillors to review the information, would have been a better idea? After all, our community and previous elected officials had spent over a year formulating this longterm vision.

I would think, had the ALC been given the opportunity to rule on this OCP amendment, that they likely would not have allowed all the land to be removed, but because they understood the longterm goal, it is very likely they would have come up with a workable compromise.

Because of this narrow thinking the community is continuing down the path of high development costs, very few family homes, and conversion of farm land to country estates.

Houses will only become “affordable” when they are built on land that is affordable. It seems to me that future planning that includes a few parcels of little-used, serviced land close to the town core would result in a much more affordable outcome than unserviced hillsides or infill of older areas.

Communities require provisions for a variety of accommodation types. We have been through the phases of adult-only condos, then condos over the store, then environmentally sensitive hillsides requiring servicing and apparently now condo towers over a spring under the clay banks.

Maybe it’s time for just a few “normal family homes” close to schools and shopping! Don Hudgeon Summerland

Letters can be mailed to Penticton Herald, c/o Joe Fries, to the editor at 250-492-2403 or e-mailed to: letters@pentictonherald.ca