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NorthCoast's Regional Information
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NATURESea, land, river ECONOMYRegional PEOPLESCommunity
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Letter was
published in PRDN and forwarded to me by Alora S. Griffin MAIBC/MRAIC for use here |
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RE:
An Open Letter to the Mayor and Council As
an architect who has studied urban issues, I am concerned about
the expansion of Royop Corporation's shopping mall development in
the former Hydro lands. I understand the developer has already received
permission to rezone 16 acres and now wants to apply to rezone
a further 9 acres for a total of 25 acres. Allowing expansion of
this shopping mall will set a dangerous precedent and will be detrimental
to Prince Rupert for many reasons. Have
you ever visited Prince George or Terrace to see what happened to
their downtowns after the uninhibited growth of shopping mall developments?
Downtown Prince George is like a ghetto with derelict buildings,
second-hand stores, soup kitchens and shelters. Downtown Terrace
is like a ghost town with very limited shops and services. Prince
Rupert has a wonderfully diverse selection of restaurants and coffee
shops, some of which could go out of business if franchises such as
Quizno's, A&W and Taco Bell are located outside of downtown. The local hardware
and lumber stores will feel the impact if Canadian Tire opens in
the new mall. The local stationary store will feel the pinch if Staples
moves to the new mall. The arrival of Wal-Mart could put many
retail stores out of business. If businesses fail in downtown due
to the shopping mall, there will be less tax money in the City coffers.
There
have been numerous studies which show that for every dollar municipalities
receive in real estate taxes they spend approximately $1.40
in subsidizing low density suburban developments in the form of
services for water, sewer and roads. Who is going to be paying for
the upgrading of the services for this development? Is the City going
to be providing bus transportation to the new mall? Ultimately it's
the taxpayer who ends up footing the bill for these additional services,
which means our property taxes could increase to subsidize this
development. There
will be an increase in automobile traffic to and from the mall which
will result in yet more carbon emissions which contribute to global
warming. As gas and oil costs continue to rise suburban developments
are going to be a less viable option than dense urban developments.
I, for one, will not be buying a car just so I can drive to
and from the shopping mall. Instead I will continue walking into town
to support local businesses and restaurants. Tourists
will not be shopping at the mall as these chains can be found anywhere.
Instead they will be looking for boutique shops and restaurants downtown.
So far visitors arriving via the highway are not greeted by a plethora
of big box stores and chains which makes every other community look
the same. It's hard to tell where you are when driving through Prince
George, Smithers or Terrace. Instead
of supporting suburban mall development the City should be promoting
the preservation of downtown by encouraging the development of
infill mixed use buildings. Cities are safer, and more economically viable,
when people live and work close to downtown. Empty lots collect debris
and closed shops encourage vandalism. Locally owned businesses also
invest profits back into the community whereas the profits from corporations
go to the shareholders, who generally don't live in the community. City
Council should propose this shopping mall be developed in 2 phases so
the impact of Phase One on downtown can be assessed before Phase Two is
rezoned. This will also give the City some leverage in case Royop Corporation
doesn't comply with regulations or recommendations for Phase One.The
shopping mall should only proceed after the current Official Community
Plan has been revised to see if the community wants shopping malls
located on the perimeter of the city. As far as I know the current OCP
doesn't have a provision for shopping malls on the outskirts of the City
so why were the Hydro lands re-zoned in the first place? In
the future, successful cities will be urban, not suburban. Instead of
repeating the mistakes of other Northern communities Prince Rupert could
be a model of a 'green' city. Think outside the big box! Sincerely, Alora
S. Griffin MAIBC/MRAIC |
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Created by LG on
Feb 1, 2006
Last updated on Friday, December 08, 2006