The Editor,
Re. “Road through park old way of thinking” (Letters, The Tri-City News, Aug. 17).
Wow, the rhetoric from the Save Bert Flinn Park proponents is scary. Let’s try and keep some perspective. No one is going to destroy the park or propose massive developments that will destroy habitat and change our way of life or our empathy with nature. The developer wants to rejuvenate the Ioco Heritage townsite and build some sorely needed housing, and is consulting with the community as it should.
When we came to Port Moody, the population was 9,000; it is now 34,000 and projected to be 65,000. Growth happens, it’s inevitable. Luckily, years ago, Port Moody had councillors of vision who protected the waterfront from development, who decreed where skyscrapers should be built, where growth would take place and where access roadways would be placed. They built Heritage Mountain Boulevard to connect with David Avenue and planned the pocket housing developments together with the future extension of David Avenue. They carved these roadways out of the bush on the mountainside and built schools, playing fields and parks to serve the residents.
An east-west connector was planned for the next inevitable growth spurt. To suggest that it has been “abandoned,” as Coun. Rob Vagramov suggests in his motion, is plain ridiculous. If he were to consult the city’s official community plan (OCP), the Bible for Port Moody’s future development, he would find maps showing the future roadway to Anmore border, and that it states quite clearly that the city will pursue a proposed westerly extension of David Avenue.
In his motion, he makes use of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan to make his argument but this only gives guidance from one perspective. The OCP gives guidance covering all aspects of life in Port Moody. To close off that right-of-way would leave the city open for litigation and our future taxes at risk for misrepresentation. Residents living beside Ioco Road had better get prepared for increased traffic when some future council decides to develop these lands without this access.
A road through Bert Flinn Park is not going to have the devastating impact suggested. There are many roads in this area and if you ventured a few yards into the bush, you wouldn’t hear a passing car. It will provide needed access, just as the roads to Buntzen, Sasamat and Belcarra do — these roads have not destroyed these recreation areas. All Port Moody residents, ourselves included, need to adopt a more regional attitude.
We hope that when council votes on this motion that they remember the oath they swore to consider the interests of all the community and not just vote for one special interest group.
Jon and Mavis Wheatley,
Port Moody
