Dear Editor,
[LETTER: Tower is absurd, The News, Oct. 24]
It’s hard to understand the writer’s opposition to the proposed tower on Brown Avenue, other than they feel it’s too tall.
RELATED: 35-storey tower proposed for downtown Maple Ridge
One must infer why that i, as they veer into several other complaints.
Regardless, Maple Ridge needs to shake off the notion that we are this small rural horse town with one traffic light. We are a part of the Metro Vancouver urban region and it’s time we start to act like it.
His complaint about the new highrise mirrors a past letter complaining about new townhomes being built in their neighbourhood.
If we want to attract the retail options everyone complains is lacking, better transit for the 67 per cent of our residents who commute for work out of town mostly by car, a full post-secondary campus, or any number of resources that rely on a greater population – we need more higher-density housing projects like this.
The writer makes the claim that “transparency and accountability is lacking for this council,” and gives this highrise, the new recreation centre in West Maple Ridge, as well as the Our Neck of the Woods event, as examples.
In the case of all three of these, our council has discussed them openly in council meetings, held information and feedback sessions, and/or sent out surveys for online feedback.
This newspaper published at least two stories in recent weeks highlighting the city’s engagement on the industrial lands in East Maple Ridge and the feedback it received on its plans for the Lougheed Transit Corridor.
It should also be noted that the article in The News indicates there will be a public hearing for this development. Heck, the article right below the letter is “Maple Ridge conducting citizen satisfaction survey.”
The city is clearly not failing us in its efforts to be transparent and accountable.
I do agree with one of the writer’s statements, at least partially. Please get out and vote.
Blake Whitelaw, Maple Ridge