Dear Editor:
I am responding to your series Our Changing Landscapes and the story about monster homes, Size Matters.
This is a vital discussion which has to take place in order to maintain peace within neighbourhoods. Too many people are suffering nervous breakdowns, strained relationships or being forced to move. Building a monster house so close to an existing smaller home so as to ruin their living conditions might well be legal, but it is just plain rude, aggressive and most stressful.
We have just lost our views to the west of our house in Lower Dundarave due to a new monster built next door. We now have a huge concrete wall with windows looking straight into our living room, where before we had light, a nice view and privacy. We are now faced with a solid grey concrete wall just feet from our property.
The new monster build next door to us does not suit our streetscape at all. It is "block busting" in the worst way. It is a huge, towering, all-concrete structure taking up the entire lot (across the street from some lovely renovated small bungalows). It has concrete pillars and fountains and there is not one blade of grass nor leaf in site. All the old flowering shrubs, lilacs, roses, huge cherry tree gone.
We agree that monster homes are not such an issue when placed in confined areas such as Whitby Estates in the British Properties (although esthetically questionable) or in large lots set back off the street with driveway access, but these do not compare to monster builds in older neighbourhoods such as ours in Dundarave or in Ambleside. The building of monster homes is a hugely upsetting and controversial issue in these areas and should be controlled differently with more appropriate bylaws. There was a spontaneous gathering of neighbours in our block one evening and they were all without exception furious at the scope of the new build. We wrote to a councillor in West Vancouver and his reply stated that we were to keep challenging our politicians on the matter. We wrote to the district planning department and received no reply.
Quality construction and finishings cannot make up for the ruination of small lots in older neighbourhoods.
Lisa King, West Vancouver
