Editor:
Looks like the honeymoon is over for Gibsons council, if the May 12 council meeting was any example. Our “young” and inexperienced council is being put to the test with a very difficult project to cut their teeth on and a very impatient mayor seemingly not willing to even listen to them. To add to their angst is a very determined developer with some very impatient supporters putting the pressure on to hurry up at any cost.
The developer now needs a higher hotel because the geotechs tell them they cannot dig into the aquifer. So instead they are going to build on top of the aquifer without using deep footings. Then pile on 124 feet (above mean grade) of building. Really! Sounds like a plan I would be afraid of if I was on council.
Be careful, council, haste makes waste. Take your time, this could all come back and bite us later. What some think is a big win for Gibsons could be one lawsuit after another. Why is everyone so anxious to please this developer at all costs?
Listen to what many of us told you at election time. This project is too high, too much mass and density for the area. Now the geotechs’ peer review is telling you the same. This is serious stuff. Once we go forward we can never go back. Negotiate a smaller quainter hotel and you will not put our aquifer or our village character at risk. A win, win.
With the developer now owning the marina and the land, he has no choice but to play by our rules. Now is the time for Gibsons council to tell the developer what we want and what is best for all citizens for all time.
Judith Bonkoff, Gibsons
