by Sharon Ciarniello I have attended the three public meetings on rezoning the old arena site [“Council selects library site,” March 9]. City of Powell River council was going to rezone this piece of property from park to mixed use, open to many kinds of developments. No one is against private development but we have a piece of land on the Wildwood hill with a beautiful view of the lake, a development taking place below Timberlane Park with a beautiful view of the ocean, and a development below the airport with a beautiful view of the ocean and mountains. Nobody is against development but leave it to the private sector; the city is not in the real estate business.
At the council meeting in March members of council voted six to one to keep this parcel of land in parks. The next council meeting they voted to give the library board the green light to go ahead for a new library with the old arena site preferred.
There were public meetings before this and the majority of people wanted this property to stay as a park, with Sea Fair, Blackberry Festival and maybe a covered area built for a farmers’ market and public functions. There could be grass planted and benches donated in memory of loved ones placed down there.
Before council wastes anymore money, which the town is short of, a referendum should be held this fall at the next election, which won’t cost any extra money, to give the people of Powell River chance to voice their opinion.
A few weeks ago a gentleman suggested adding onto our current library. An elevator is going to be put in city hall, so the library could go out and up from the existing building, still having a view of the ocean. Today, we have iPads and iPhones to read a book on. What is technology going to be like in five to 10 years? An addition to our library where it is now makes sense, people can still walk there. At the old arena site, it is all uphill to go anywhere and if people wanted to get a bus, where would it be able to stop, as the traffic around the intersection is congested now?
Build onto our existing library. Start paying user fees for revenue as our baseball players, hockey players, soccer players, swimmers and skaters all have to pay fees.
Hopefully we will all have a vote on this at the next election. Let all the people of Powell River have a say. If council does this, I hope the people of Powell River get out to vote.
Sharon Ciarniello is a resident of Wildwood.
