Re: “$35M Sidney project ready for takeoff,” Oct. 20.
So Greater Victoria is getting yet another strip mall, basically a surface parking lot ringed with box-like buildings devoid of any architectural merit. Naturally, this is welcomed by Sidney council as an additional source of tax revenue, but at what cost to the wider region? More traffic on the busy Pat Bay highway, more congestion at an intersection that already causes backups to and from the ferries, an ugly scar on the main gateway to the region, and a questionable addition to an area that is already well supplied with shops.
It is this sort of myopic thinking that cries out for some sort of regional governance. At present, there is no regional plan or regional transportation strategy, just an unelected Capital Regional District with no authority, and 13 individual municipalities each acting as though they were isolated communities concerned only with their own tax bases.
John Weaver
Victoria
