Dear Editor:
I read with interest your article, Expert Calls for Calm in Density Storm, in the Dec. 7 North Shore News (page three with maps on pages eight and nine).
I disagree that Ambleside can absorb much more development without destroying the village atmosphere that it so strives for. Particularly, the sacrilege of seven-and eight-storey towers on prime irreplaceable semi-waterfront property in the 1300-block of Marine Drive. Development, yes, but not of this proposed height and massive density of Grosvenor's. Of note, I have read that they propose 88 apartments, not 80 as stated on your map.
Your maps also do not show the massive development of Onni on Evelyn Drive and Taylor Way, comprising 349 more homes, above Park Royal Shopping Centre's north mall. This area has been denuded of any anchoring vegetation and now is a mudslide waiting to happen.
Then there are the two 22-storey towers at Park Royal south and another 350 units. This adds up to 787 new homes and that is not counting the 1,285 acres of residential development under study until 2014 in the Cypress Bowl area of the Upper Lands.
The infrastructure is not here to support this level of development. West Vancouver has asbestos and clay pipes crumbling beneath its roads. In the event of an earthquake there will be no water to put out ensuing fires. Sea water can only be pumped only so far up hills. Sewage will be spilling everywhere downhill. And, the sea levels are forecast to rise!
Traffic and parking is already hitting the limits. Vehicles will still be used no matter how many bicycle lanes are added. We are an aging population, many cannot bicycle due to frailties, not to mention the abundance of rainy weather and long dark winters we enjoy. Smartly dressed people are certainly not going to bicycle to their appointments.
Finally, the Lions Gate Bridge is already a bottleneck, especially at rush hours and when a ferry has disgorged its traffic. When another windstorm hits, the Causeway will be shut down. What happens when it again needs refurbishing and repairs? We know it cannot be widened any more.
Who are these university experts? Do they even live here?
Unfortunately, the bottom line is that it all boils down to corporate greed and to heck with livability, no matter what perks are offered as carrots to those who do live here.
This madness needs some saner thinking. Calm? What calm?
Christine Ballantine West Vancouver
