Who do planners actually serve?

Ryan Smith, Divisional Director of Planning and Development Services at the City of Kelowna, attacked my opinions in a Feb. 3 letter, City planners defend development record.

Smith’s responsibilities include preparing urban plans to ensure orderly and sustainable city growth and to approve new development applications to make those plans a reality. He has the discretion to request reports that assess potential impacts new projects may have on taxpayers, residents, businesses, traffic, public health, the environment and neighbourhoods.

Yet, these assessments are rarely requested and rarely made available for public review prior to public hearings on land use and zoning issues. His approvals and recommendations to council are therefore largely subjective.

This lack of public oversight and transparency is alarming since the project approvals usually require large taxpayer subsidies.

My Jan. 20 letter ‘Kelowna city hall leaves taxpayers on the hook” reported a $6.1-million taxpayer subsidy resulting from approvals of the Underhill and Beyrouti projects that failed to conform to OCP and zoning bylaw building height requirements.

Approval for these two projects created a total of 947 new units; added up to 50% more floors to the buildings; and provided a combined density bonus that added 232 (25%) more residential units than allowed. At an average price of $400,000 per unit, the city's approvals added an extra $92.8 million in value to the portfolios of the private investors that own these two projects.

These approvals clearly benefit developers. How will public subsidies like these impact Kelowna residents over the long-term?

We just don’t know. City records show such decisions are rarely accompanied by public cost-benefit analysis to assure taxpayers the approvals serve their interests.

These are not two isolated projects. At least 20 building height variances that will add 4,380 new residential units and 32,745 square metres of new commercial space have been approved. These 20 projects also require at least $36.8 million in taxpayer subsidies, which represents 25% of Kelowna’s 2020 annual taxation demand of $148.8 million.

Clearly, these approvals benefit developers far more than they benefit taxpayers and the rest of the community.

I trust your readers will understand that city planning is not always done with our community’s best interests in mind.

Richard Drinnan, Kelowna

MIAMI — Small crowds at Marlins Park will be back this season.

The attendance-challenged Marlins plan to allow fans at home games, although crowds will initially be limited to about 25% of capacity. That would mean a maximum of about 9,300 spectators in the 37,446seat ballpark.

“We look forward to having the opportunity to have fans come back to our ballpark,” CEO Derek Jeter said Monday. “There will be a limited number of fans that are allowed at the onset. We hope those numbers increase throughout course of the season, but the most important thing for us is to make sure everyone is healthy and safe.”

The Marlins, like the rest of MLB, didn’t allow fans during the 2020 regular season because of the coronavirus pandemic. Limited crowds were permitted for the postseason, and that will be the case for spring training games in Florida and Arizona starting late this month.

The Marlins averaged about 10,000 fans in 2018 and 2019, the first two seasons that Jeter’s group owned the team. They finished last in the majors in attendance both years, and ranked last in the National League 14 out of 15 seasons through 2019.

The 2020 season might have brought an increase as the Marlins made surprising run to their first playoff berth in 17 years. But because of COVID-19, the size of the bandwagon was impossible to gauge.

“One thing that was a little bit disappointing last year — going through the pandemic, you hear about the excitement of our fan base, but they weren’t able to come to games,” Jeter said. “I would have loved to have seen what that looked like.

“There is a level of excitement, and we need to continue to build on that, not only on the baseball side but on the business side as well.”

The Marlins anticipate increased revenue this year not only at the box office, but thanks to a pending rights agreement that is expected to more than double income from local game telecasts.

“We will no longer have the worst deal in major league baseball,” majority owner Bruce Sherman said.

Pitchers and catchers report Wednesday to spring training in Jupiter, Fla., and like every team at this time of year, the Marlins are optimistic. Their young, promising rotation provides a strong foundation, and the minor league system is much improved since Jeter's group bought the franchise in late 2017.

The Marlins are low on star power, but Jeter — a former Yankees captain who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer -- knows how quickly that can change.

“Every star wasn’t always a star,” he said. “I can go off experience. When our group was younger, nobody knew who we were. After a couple of years and a little bit of success, you become a household name.”

QUESTION:

When the pandemic first hit, a very close friend/neighbour overreacted.

Groceries had to be sanitized in the garage, clothes changed upon entering the house and our morning coffee meetings discontinued (though outside and socially distanced).

I wasn’t allowed into her house despite my being in total isolation.

When she accidentally mentioned a friend who had been over for dinner, she quickly added that it’d been on the patio with everyone six feet apart.

Before Christmas she announced that she and her husband were going to their winter home in Florida.

When I questioned the wisdom of her decision, she said it made no difference where you isolate, and they weren’t spending the winter here.

Since going south she’s posted photos of them attending outdoor functions and has told people that they’re going for their COVID-19 vaccinations because they can get them in Florida.

I’m angry and hurt that this couple cares only for themselves and is inconsiderate of those they may infect upon their return.

How do I tell them that I can no longer be friends with them?

— Beyond Acceptance

ANSWER: It’s about individual values, not friendship. These people aren’t alone in taking advantage of ways to care for themselves first.

In some publicized cases, people resort to lying and cheating the system to get into the lineup for a needle jab of vaccine, never mind if it means there’s not enough left for those more needy of protection.

But in cases where people own a home in Florida, where at one point the economyfocused governor invited snowbirds to come get vaccinated there, the picture gets blurred:

Do they stay here through winter like the rest of us, while still paying for their U.S. property’s upkeep? Even when they could be in the sun, distanced socially, and wearing masks if they choose?

Many have given up that alluring option. But a considerable number have not, despite valid complaints by some Americans about “their” vaccine allotment being given to noncitizens (though there are apparently exceptions made for property owners).

As of Feb. 22, federal rules will require everyone returning from the U.S. to have a specific COVID test which requires up to three days’ expensive time in hotel quarantine before 14 days in home quarantine, intended to reduce the risk a Florida sojourn poses to others here. If such measures work, the concern about making others sick goes down.

Still, your once-close friend/neighbour is trying to shuck off initial pandemic panic for me-first survival.

It’s not pretty, but it’s pretty common when the going gets tough for a large population. Some will care about others, others will not.

Focusing on friends whom you respect more because of shared values will help you get past caring about what this couple does. If you still feel angry when they return, tell them you prefer being distanced.

READER’S COMMENTARY: Regarding grieving after death of a loved one (Jan. 19):

I could feel the writer’s pain and the care and empathy in your response.

As a grief therapist, I’m suggesting additional references to help those who mourn a loss.

The Elisabeth Kubler-Ross set way of thinking (from the book ‘On Death and Dying’), that people experience grief and find ëacceptance,’ can feel overwhelming and is often misunderstood.

Many grievers see the five-stages model as something they’ll experience in order, without understanding that the research was focused on the dying, and for grievers to understand grief’s non-linear framework.

I’ve heard clients feeling they’re failing or not grieving “right” because they’re not going through these stages.

In my work, I spend a lot of time talking about grief as the form that love takes after a loved one has died — grief integration, adaptation to loss, and how to maintain a relationship with a loved one after they’ve died. Because grief is messy and non-linear, and each person experiences it in their own individual way.

ELLIE’S TIP OF THE DAY

Friends’ underlying values matter. But during a crisis, they matter far more.