On that note, the Herald published my letter today
Quote:
Re: "Bayers Lake plan huge, says developer" (April 8). Developer Besim Halef says he has "no clue" as to why Jim Smith and Dawn Sloane would vote against a motion to move the sale of land forward that would "almost double" the size of Bayers Lake industrial park. While I can’t speak for them, I can certainly come up with reasons why this is a move backwards, especially at a time when other cities are focusing on managing growth responsibly rather than perpetuating grossly inefficient land-use patterns such as the "power centres" that now ring Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford.
The tax revenues from such a plan may seem tempting now, but in the long term, the cost of maintaining the vast amount of infrastructure required to service a development this sprawling will become a huge financial liability — not to mention the cost of new road construction to alleviate congestion that will only worsen. The traffic chaos of any Saturday afternoon in Bayers Lake is indicative of what comes from a design that requires shoppers to drive from store to store. It does not allow for easy pedestrian access or efficient public transit. Groups that do not drive, like many seniors, are marginalized.
Throwing up 80 more hectares of big-box low-density urban sprawl while existing neighbourhoods languish is unsustainable economically, socially, and environmentally.
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I can think of many more downsides of course, but only so many can fit under the 200 word limit.
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