Re: Reimagining a View Royal neighbourhood (Gazette, Jan. 18)
We are View Royal residents who live across Portage Inlet from Christie Point. We also previously lived at Christie Point. We bought our home because of the beautiful views of the inlet, the natural setting, the wildlife etc.
With the proposed redevelopment of Christie Point, the inlet and our views and those of our neighbours will be forever changed.
The proposed six-storey buildings will be an increased mass, will be above the tree line, will block out much of the sunrise, there will be increased light and noise pollution, trees will be cut down and wildlife will be disturbed.
Mayor Screech’s statement in your article that “some (community members) have voiced support while others are lukewarm to the proposal” is a gross understatement, as many residents are vehemently opposed.
At the Sept. 16 Realstar presentation to the public and the company’s Oct. 16 presentation to View Royal council, overwhelmingly, comments from the community were that the development was too high density, the buildings were too tall and there were concerns for the environment, wildlife, increased traffic issues and that current tenants would be displaced.
Not one community member at the latter meeting spoke up in support of the development.
The article quotes that “Realstar has made a number of changes to its original plans … taking away the nine-story buildings...” While this is true, we want to point out that they did this due to public pressure, not because of concerns for the community or the environment.
We don’t believe that Christie Point needs to be redeveloped. But if any development is to happen, we and our neighbours strongly believe it must be much lower density, that none of the buildings should be above four stories and that it should conform to the appropriate setbacks from the Inlet.
We want to remind community members that Realstar is a Toronto company. They do not live here and therefore do not care about the community and Portage Inlet the same way that residents of View Royal do.
Please let council know your concerns.
Suzanne and Sylvester Belony
View Royal