this was my letter...
Members of Council,
I would like to voice my thoughts and opinion on the City Centre Airport and its impending future. You are faced with a very challenging, difficult and historical decision. Over the last several months, Council has been overloaded with information. I would certainly encourage you to consider all the information as a foundation, but do not let it cloud the fundamental basis of why specifically you were elected to the position in which you hold. Section 153(a) of the Municipal Government Act states:
Councillors have the following duties:
(a) to consider the welfare and interests of the municipality as a whole and to bring to council’s attention anything that would promote the welfare or interests of the municipality; …..
I can understand why the pro-airport side put forward the arguments that they have. But when considering LRT expansion, nobody came forward to say that City Council should not approve an at-grade LRT line because it is 800 times more likely to result in the death of pedestrians than that an underground line. Medi-vacs can be accommodated just the same as 99% of the other Cities that do not have an airport in the centre of their City. Cities are like living organisms and can adapt.
I've studied architecture, urban planning and urban design. Like most North American Cities, Edmonton saw the majority of its growth after WWII. As a result, the City grew in a manner that did not accommodate people as much as it did the automobile. Cities are now realizing that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to accommodate this type of growth and balance costs by developing in this manner. Because all residential properties are based on the same mill-rate, all the costs of providing services to a new suburban lot exceeds the amount of property taxes it receives. These services are pipes, roads, landscaping, libraries, police, fire and everything else. As cities continue to grow out, every property’s taxes will go up at a rate that typically exceeds inflation and therefore the cost of providing suburban services is bourne by the inner city property owners.
We are at a point where we need to be smarter. Cities need to accommodate better choices in where its citizenry live, work and play. Developing the CCA lands in a smart and efficient manner will provide a choice to citizens that they didn’t have before. Councils and their administrations should have the responsibility to provide such smart growth choices. Services could reach a greater population and therefore creating a more cost effective City. This land could be a blank canvas for an urban development initiative that could create a new and better perception for this City and be an example for other Cities.
My point is simple, keeping the CCA open is only considering the interests of an very select few. Even to consider those who benefit directly and indirectly, it is still a very small portion of the overall citizenry of Edmonton. The airport is not a private business and by keeping it open for the luxury of those the few that use it is to the detriment of the municipality as a whole. The City would not approve an LRT line if it was only accessible to 0.01% of the population, why would they facilitate a mode of transportation that in essence does the same thing.
Closing the airport could be one more step towards making this City great.
The City Centre Airport was designed a long time ago for a much different City.
There is a reason why all civic decisions are not put to a plebiscite and it is decisions like this that Councils must put aside all the rhetoric and make the best decision for the greater good of the municipality.
I ask you make the responsible decision and to put the municipality as a whole when doing so as section 153(a) of the MGA tells you to do.
Thank you very much, and good luck!
__________________
"Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice. Carl Spackler, 1980
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