Dear Editor:
It is worthwhile to note that our city council is wearing two hats when it comes to density. On one hand they heavily promote, support and approve almost all monster developments in West Vancouver, regardless of the official community plan, density and neighborhood character, but they are about to take action on monsterhouses. Council wants to put limits on maximum house size because it affects neighbourhoods and they want the new houses to conform with established areas. What I read is that enormous developments that are eating away West Vancouver's established areas are OK, but individual houses are not. It doesn't matter that the city is not investing the proportional resources to properly size and improve our decaying infrastructure and services that would accommodate the "new" West Vancouver.
Coun. Craig Cameron said that anybody building 10,000 to 17,000 square foot homes doesn't give a hoot about incentives that would promote proper sizing. I guess developers do care about the same issues. They do care for the character of the areas where they are erecting 15 to 30 storeys and they will consider "incentives." For them it's all about neighborhood and not profit.
Monster houses are indeed the wrong approach to sustainability and neighborhood character, but their impact doesn't compare to these monster developments that already are affecting traffic, water and basic services like hospitals, police and fire fighting. Monster developments seem to please municipal staff and council. As they are about to draft new rules for all monster houses - without exceptions - then what they are doing is punishing individuals for the same actions that big developers do.
Elias Merkins
West Vancouver
