Dear North Cowichan mayor and council:
We cheer the Citizen’s timely Nov. 13, 2024 editorial explaining council, not developers, are in charge of wisely growing our municipality.
Council is urged to work fairly with developers — including those eager to profit from building homes near our new Cowichan District Hospital — to follow our logical official community plan (OCP) and its smart-growth aspects.
We realize developers face rising labour, land and material costs to build housing ordered by our province.
But council can and must use our OCP to: control ugly sprawl and tree loss; promote green building design; address water scarcity; mandate affordability, and tackle other cogent concerns.
Council must also urgently pass a tree-protection bylaw with sharp teeth to stop the cutting of community tree cover in the name of housing.
“Don’t we want to build the best neighbourhoods possible?” asks the Citizen’s editorial.
Yes, we do.
If developers cannot make enough profit, perhaps council should work further with B.C. Housing to fill building ordered by Victoria.
“(Council’s) responsibility is to all of us, not just developers,” rightly opines the Citizen.
Yours in smart growth,
Peter W. Rusland
North Cowichan
