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Letter: Penticton City Council needs to plan with a vision

Council, please make planning decisions with a vision for how this beautiful city will grow into the future.

From my hotel room in Hong Kong, I still think of how my adopted city is being torn apart by this council.

Please tell me why this council has built a new road with six foot sidewalks through the south side of Gyro Park?  Have they no vision? The vision would be to have expanded the park with trees and grass right up to the north end of city hall. Plus new permanent washrooms constructed on the south west corner are now long overdue.

When we’re told the city has no money, this council spends. I’m sure it was almost a half million dollars putting this roadway from Main Street to Martin Street. Trees and grass are less expensive and are more attractive and also would increase,  after the Skaha Park fiasco, the city’s future park requirement.

When oh when, is this council going to think things through on the consequences of their extremely poor approach to planning this city?

What future council will come into office and decide we need more grass and decide to tear this roadway up at great expense to the taxpayers? More parking means downtown becomes more convenient for more cars, which equals more cost to build parking lots?

Official community planning for the now controversial Kinney Avenue development when I was involved was to work with the school board on that subject property to jointly purchase it to create another ball diamond, another green space. All the sports fields on the school properties were developed when the SOEC took out a soccer field and a ball diamond.

Council, please make planning decisions with a vision for how this beautiful city will grow into the future, not just because your friends need a place to live!

Jake Kimberley

Penticton