Editor:
Re: Gallery rezoning
What Goldmoss brings to the community is far greater than the nuisance of a few extra cars parked in the bike lane twice a year.
I’m a neighbour and although I hear their amplified music during Roberts Creek Arts Festival in spring, I welcome this art business in my neighbourhood because the entire community benefits. This gallery and festival that they single-handedly created from scratch bring a middle class and affluent tourist to the Coast.
Often, artists create opportunities for other businesses by being the attraction. The restaurants get more business, the B&Bs more bookings, the grocery stores and coffee shops more customers.
The artist is often the last person to benefit from the work they do, because someone has to buy the art that everyone has come to see.
You can’t just have artists — you have to have a paying audience.
A handful of neighbours want to shut them down. The gallery owners responded by applying for a spot rezoning (in line with the official community plan) so they have a legal right to operate as a cultural art gallery.
With or without the presence of amplified music, I welcome them — their energy, resources and passion for the arts — to The Gumboot Nation.
