Skip to content

LETTER: Building boom the new normal?

Dear Editor: I am writing in response to Coun. Lisa Muri’s recent letter, Councillor’s Stance on Density Unchanged (Aug. 14 Mailbox). It has been my experience that Coun.

Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to Coun. Lisa Muri’s recent letter, Councillor’s Stance on Density Unchanged (Aug. 14 Mailbox).

It has been my experience that Coun. Muri genuinely cares for the community she serves, and I applaud her stance as to be “absolutely opposed to how density, unaffordability and vehicular congestion – in this corridor and throughout the district – has affected our quality of life.”  I was, however, disturbed to learn “councils have very little ability to vote against development permits.”

While I am sure that there is much bureaucratic justification for why councils have this lack of control on development permits, frankly I am at a loss to understand such reasoning.

In my naiveté, I believed that the essential basics of any level of government was that we, the public, elect such officials to run our world to our satisfaction as best they can. How then can they have so little control over the realty development of our world? Who is watching the henhouse as the development foxes rampage seemingly unchecked through it?

This is neither a criticism of our mayor and councillors nor the developers; each is simply living by the rules of the game. As a district resident, I don’t understand those rules – wherein the voter’s quality of life can be so negatively impacted.

Is this current developmental upheaval now the norm for the rest of our lives? Can nobody slow it down?

Mick Webb
North Vancouver


What are your thoughts? Send us a letter via email by clicking here or post a comment below.