In the article Small Condo Triggers Big Debate at DNV Council (Oct. 28), you quote Mayor Richard Walton as saying “You’re going to find that 60 or 70 per cent of the construction around Edgemont Village is going to be finished within three months.” Sorry, but what planet is Mayor Walton living on?
At the moment, we have the major Grosvenor site and Ridgewood/Edgemont residential condo site across the street – both just underway and likely not to be finished for at least one to two years – and the Amica senior retirement home, which has at least a few months yet to go until completion. Several smaller commercial businesses are nearing some degree of completion, such as the former Trims/Peter Rabbit site and the former Highland Produce site. Then, both the Bakehouse site on Newmarket and Queens and the old Petro-Canada site on Woodbine and Queens are now sold and potentially to be developed.
Meanwhile, we are also dealing with the ongoing development of the new Delbrook (formerly William Griffin) recreation centre site (when will this ever be finished?) and a condo development on Edgemont east of Capilano Road – the latter artery still awaiting completion after months of water main replacement.
Added to this we have dozens of residential properties in the community under redevelopment and in sum, this place is an utter zoo. Just last Wednesday, the District or Grosvenor had Edgemont Boulevard closed between Crescentview and Ridgewood during morning rush hour with a detour that had traffic in a complete snarl. Whoever planned that should be given a Darwin award. And we are contemplating the Crescentview-Connaught site as well?
Kudos to councillors Lisa Muri and Doug MacKay-Dunn for voicing opposition to yet another substantial re-development in Edgemont Village, notwithstanding this particular project would see the demolition of several homes and the decimation of yet another two dozen plus mature conifers t o make way for 22 very high-end residential condos that in no way satisfy affordable housing.
Come on, folks. The redevelopment frenzy we’ve had to put up with these past few years has to slow down. Our district officials need to rethink all of this development and give some serious second sober thought. After all, which “two of the biggest projects in the neighbourhood are nearly complete”?
Personally, I’ve reached redevelopment meltdown – just come along Newmarket-Edgemont-Thorncliffe and have a look at what this has spawned: two 5,500- to 5,800-square-foot $5-million “homes” and we have to live with the major tax increases not to mention the years of distressful construction work and noise, the instability erosion of our properties from huge holes being dug right to the property lines, the traffic diversions and inconveniences.
I no longer need an alarm clock: the “beep beep beep” and thundering, earth-shattering excavator activity is up and ready to go just after 7 a.m. every day. And I know I’m just but one who is utterly fed up with all of this.
Elizabeth McLenehan
North Vancouver
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