Dear Editor:
I have participated in a couple of workshops about the 1300-block Marine Drive redevelopment. Although I am impressed with the developer's approach and empathy, my concerns are addressed at the broader political level.
Scenery Slater's Feb. 24 letter (1300-block Sale Tied to Development Scale) made many good points, but I would supplement her comments with some important technical issues that are being glossed over.
I am a retired civil engineer with a quite varied experience, and I am very cognizant of the need for contingency planning in matters of public safety. I have some serious questions about the path that our council appears to be following.
Firstly, I suggest the combination of the police station and fire station into one public safety building is an unwise step and is poor contingency planning.
I have been involved in seismic studies and I am well aware of the potentials facing the Lower Mainland region. Over the years, with increased knowledge, these potentials are understood to be more severe, so if we have a seismic event in excess of the criteria for the public safety building, then both the police and fire control facilities could get destroyed as one. Then we are truly "up the creek."
I look at flooding and other disasters around the world the past couple of years and there have been so many that exceeded expectations. There are many lessons to be learned from the earthquake in Japan nearly a year ago. In the current global environment, prudence and caution are required.
Beyond contingency planning, the matter of the public safety building's location needs to be revisited for a variety of reasons. The fire hall is located in the middle of a residential area and this does not allow efficient access to the community. The only significant arterial is Fulton for east/west travel, 17th and 16th Streets only go as far north as Inglewood, and 16th is a relatively narrow street. One plus is that 15th Street is only a block away on Fulton. We live at 588 16th Street and our observations would suggest about 75 per cent of emergency calls head south and turn east along Marine Drive.
I believe the current police station is strategically placed at 13th Street and Marine Drive, and I further suggest a replacement fire hall should be constructed in the same 1300block, but as a quite separate building. Eastern access is good along Marine Drive, western access is good along Bellevue and northern access is good up 15th Street via Bellevue, or up Keith to Taylor Way. The district's balance of the 1300-block could be soldoff or retained for other district needs.
Current proposals are being driven by the desire to raise funds for new police and fire facilities, but I think the legacy to the community of these current plans is not in the long-term interests of our community.
Fifty years from now citizens will not remember the monies saved by previous councils, but will be very conscious of what infrastructure and type of community they have been left.
Nigel Grant West Vancouver
