Other side of the story

Dear Editor: Re: Knox Mnt. lot too steep for second home (Courier, Nov. 8).

I’m writing to correct some inaccuracies in your coverage of Nov. 8 which described city council’s decision to deny an application to rezone a Poplar Point property to permit the construction of a second home, accessed off Herbert Heights.

Many of these inaccuracies stemmed from incorrect statements made during the council hearing, in particularly the statement that “16 other homes, were built many years ago on similarly steep slopes.”

In fact, as the City planning topographical review of the application notes, none of the other eight properties, divided decades previously, have the same severe grade of slope concerns as the property in question. They also have bedrock, not sand and silt, as their base material — which is what differentiates this piece of land from other steep-sloped builds elsewhere in the city.

Houses surrounding Knox Mountain, many of them an order of magnitude smaller than the house proposed, have already faced their share of slides and erosion in this delicate environment. Moreover, this particular patch of wilderness is one of a dwindling number of natural habitat corridors adjoining park land. Long-time local residents, many of whom wrote in opposition to the project, are very grateful for the mayor and council members who wisely followed their planners’ advice to turn down this application. Shelley Wood

Kelowna