Re: “Parking ‘mayhem’ on Perth Drive,” published July 25.
The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘mayhem’ as ‘violent disorder’. We are glad that The Chief put mayhem in quotation marks; we live at the top of Perth Drive and have seen no evidence of violent disorder.
Indeed, what we see are happy, considerate and cooperative people of all ages leading a healthy lifestyle and having a great time. The vast majority of locals already ride their bikes up the hill and do not contribute to the ‘mayhem’ (OK, some have rambunctious dogs). Many of those who park on ‘our’ street are from out of town. We have yet to meet any that we can describe as dangerous or violent. We enjoy our interaction with them.
It is mentioned that the congestion might impede access of emergency vehicles although no examples are given. We have never seen the road blocked but it can be crowded by people who would cooperate and help in an emergency without a second thought.
It is certainly possible that bikers occasionally park in front of the fire hydrant. Its presence and parking limits could be better defined. In general, parking directions in the area are a bit sketchy but easily improved. More sketchy is the placing of obstructions by residents to keep others from parking on District land.
Please spare us resident-only parking stickers. We all have plenty of parking on our properties. In the absence of bikers’ cars, there are only a couple of cars parked on the street.
We support the establishment of a bike hub at the local school. With time, more people can be directed to park there. In the meantime, bikers are welcome to park on District land in front of our house and I would hope that our neighbours would do the same. We live in paradise and are happy to share it. There is no violent disorder. There is no need to lock up the women and children.
Celine Cantin and David Gayton
Squamish
