by Imke Zimmerman
Bowen Island Undercurrent, Dec 14, 2007
Excerpt: We want to be a green, rural community, not a suburb of any kind. Crowding Bowen would ruin it for all of us. That’s why we have the OCP. Please stay within it if you want our support.
To Mr. Ho, Mr. Lee, Mark Sager and Ekistics: I was very impressed with your generosity, and grateful that you seemed to understand what Cape Roger Curtis means to this island. But the price is way too high.
We want to be a green, rural community, not a suburb of any kind. Crowding Bowen would ruin it for all of us. That’s why we have the OCP. Please stay within it if you want our support. We will never agree to 500 houses at Cape Roger Curtis. Our small roads and the already intolerable waits at the ferry limit our population growth. You found water heavily laced with arsenic; that is another severely limiting factor.
You are not the only developer on Bowen. Cates Hill, Cowan Point, King Edward Bay and others are looming large. Snug Cove development will take care of social housing and seniors without cars. They would be stuck at CRC. Buses don’t go at night. Handicapped seniors need doctors, the pharmacy and restaurants. For younger active seniors, housing like Bowen Court (no stairs) might be acceptable, but generally townhouses do not sell on Bowen. People who accept the inconveniences of island living want as compensation nature around them, space, peace, privacy and a garden and rural housing (maybe with a secondary suite as mortgage helper). Density is for cities.
Most people here would rather have a little less parkland at the east side in your plan and less crowding. It is an illusion to plan a self-sustaining community for CRC because you need a city job to pay for housing these days. Most Bowen jobs don’t earn enough. CRC will hopefully be a neighbourhood within our community and its spirit will be green and inclusive. Please make a rural plan and do not crowd us.