Dear Editor:
RE: Community ignored, March 14.
Unless we have evidence, passing aspersions on our council and suggesting they are in the pockets of developers is very detrimental to our democratic process.
I dream that we, as a community, can have conversations without defamation. This is the key to a healthy democracy and I would also add we need investigative journalism.
It would be naive of me to think that people in power don’t do wrong, so we need a mechanism to catch them. But it would also be naive of us to think that because you are in a position of power, such as the council, you are naturally corrupt and or corruptible.
Council and township staff have to be open to challenging questions and have to be honest and clear about their reasoning. Governments and citizens have to be humble, admit mistakes and realize that we come at various issues from different perspectives. We have to work hard on our thinking skills: observing closely, gathering evidence, developing empathy, etc.
In regards to this case, a five-storey building on St. Andrew Street East, there is plenty of evidence and reason as to why the height of this development is reasonable in a downtown. There is also evidence that a majority of the council made it clear when they got elected that they are in favour of density over sprawl. So, I am not surprised they have accepted this proposal.
Because we continue to focus on just height or just parking in these discussions we don’t ask our government the tough questions that will make a difference in the future. If we have fewer parking spaces, what is our plan to allow for other mobility options? Why are we not seeing more three to four-storey apartment buildings in our new subdivisions? It is a model used in Europe to deal with population density issues.
Why is our government not pressuring developers to a higher level of design, especially at the street level, where it makes a huge difference in how a place feels? The one proposed for the five-story development should be the focus of our discontent. The design is weak and appears from the drawing to be distant and cold. I would call it a bare minimum design.
I commend anyone who writes Letters to the Editor and attends council meetings, but I encourage us all to do so with grace.
John Scott,
Elora