Editor:
W2 Group’s proposed Sechelt condo development at the intersection of Wharf Avenue and Porpoise Bay Road is conceptually flawed and rezoning should not be permitted, for the following reasons:
1) Design: Glass-box styling does not belong in Sechelt; a more traditional look would have been a better fit for our community.
2) Density: Five storeys with 40 dwellings housing 100 or more people will further stress water resources and sewage treatment – resources that are already beyond capacity.
3) Infrastructure: A complex of the size proposed will require that the intersection of Wharf Avenue and Porpoise Bay Road be upgraded with traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. In addition, power lines will need rerouting and the roads torn up for installation of utilities infrastructure – all at a cost to taxpayers.
The W2 project would fit well in North or West Vancouver, but not on the Sunshine Coast. People come here to get away from urbanization. The proposed glass “high-rise” (five storeys is a lot for our town) is a bad fit for Sechelt.
A better design might cluster smaller buildings, made with traditional materials and styling, in and around the existing old-growth trees, fitting in with Nature rather than “sterilization.” Earlier developments, like Ebbtide Place and Ebbtide Village, come to mind. (Although, in the writer’s opinion, it was a mistake to clear-cut all the old trees on those properties.)
Alternatively, the location of the project would better suit an extended-care facility that Sechelt badly needs; it is closer to the hospital and town centre than the proposed out-of-town site(s).
Douglas Mesney, Sechelt
