Good idea, wrong place

Dear editor: My wife and I attended the open house last Thursday at the Eldorado. We arrived just after 4 p.m. and there was a good crowd. The predominant dress code was smart black. At first I thought that I was in the wrong place and I had walked into a funeral.

However, after chatting with some of the people in attendance, I realized that a large percentage were real estate salespeople. Two actually asked me if I was going to buy a “unit.”

The presenters themselves were evangelical. They had absolutely no problem telling me what good people they were and what a lot of good they were doing for the community.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the Aqua development itself looks good. A lot of work has gone into it. It’s just in the wrong place. It should be out near Landmark Square or Orchard Park.

The proposed site was pristine environmentally important marsh. Some city councils saw fit to allow dumping of waste and fill. Whichever way we look at it, the site is unstable and will require significant and expensive piles to reach bedrock. The material involved will significantly affect groundwater flow in Mission Creek-Delta. When floods occur, they will be made significantly worse by this development. All insurance claims would need to be placed at the doors of the Mission Group.

Likewise the earthquake risk, which is relatively small, but will eventually happen, as Okanagan Lake harbours a small branch of the San Andreas fault.

The initial building effect will be of a big wall separating the lake from the people and increasing temperatures inland in the summer. Not to mention 10 years of construction noise and dust.

If one wants to get an idea, visit Landmark Square and stand at the base of the largest tower. The Aqua towers will he higher than these. Also, the boat storage is said to be four storeys. Boats on trailers take much more than one storey.

And then there is the traffic. Lakeshore and Cook are already solid in the summer. They cannot possibly cope with another 350 condo units, plus tourists, plus local people just wanting to get to the beach. It will be one humongous traffic jam. And what about emergency vehicle access through all this?

The whole idea of using prime public lakeshore for any sort of an arcade is ludicrous. City council, you are making a mistake. Logic says that I personally will be pushing daisies in the next 10 years, but the generations coming up will have to sort out the mess. Mike and Judy Whitaker

Kelowna