Is Wal-Mart coming to town? That's the million dollar question that many in this community seem convinced is true.
We tried to get to the bottom of this mystery this week (see story page A1), but the development company remains tight-lipped. WesBild said they don't have a confirmed tenant and that it's their corporate policy to have the retailer announce their new store location. The Sunshine Coast Regional District is going through the development process, but they too can't say for sure what business will take up potential residence near the IGA Mall in Elphinstone.
Despite all this, a petition against Wal-Mart is circulating in the community, the creators of the film Wal-Town put on a screening before a packed house at the Heritage Theatre last week, and letters against Wal-Mart are flooding our office.
While we can see people's angst and concern regarding big box development, isn't it a bit premature for petitions against a business that may or may not be coming to this community?
What if it's not Wal-Mart? What if it's another big box store? We just don't know. The SCRD board is well aware of the implications of this development and has made a motion to look into putting a maximum cap of 25,000 sq. ft. for all retail and commercial spaces throughout the regional district. More discussion is set for next week's planning meeting and staff hopes to have a full report on the implications of such a motion by the end of March.
Some in this community have to take a step back and let the process unfold. Let's stop with the speculation and fear mongering and wait to see who the tenant is before pushing the panic button.
Another tragedyAnother week brings yet another fatal accident involving a young member of our community.
A 17-year-old Grade 12 student from Pender Harbour died Wednesday night after the car she was in left the highway and plunged into Garden Bay Lake. By the time divers and emergency personnel arrived, it was too late. The girl was pulled from the vehicle, but resuscitation attempts were futile.
We don't know at this point what caused the accident as police are still investigating, but it's again a sober reminder to us all that life is precious and should never be taken for granted.
Our heart goes out to the family and friends of this young girl. It's been a very sad start to 2007 on the Sunshine Coast.
