At the AWARE/WCSS all-candidates meeting on Oct. 5, Councillor Ralph Forsyth took great pride in his efforts to reshape the west side of Nita Lake; the 22 market townhomes slated to be built are a good thing, he claimed, because the alternative was so much worse: “There’s so much confusion about this ... the owner of that property could have walked into city hall for a hotel, an eight-storey hotel, and [just] one caretaker suite ... because that is what it was zoned for.”
It is actually Forsyth who is spreading confusion; in reality, the existing zoning was for an eco-lodge with only seven rooms in the main building (with the remainder contained in cabins). This one “hotel” structure (max. GFA 2,100 square metres, max height 16 m.) would have been hardly more than half the size of the four, three-storey market townhome complexes (max GFA 3,992 sq. m. total) of which he’s so proud. The existing zoning also included 800 sq. m. of employee housing (the rezoning provides 2,001 sq. m.), far more than Forsyth concedes. I don’t understand how he thinks you can squeeze eight storeys into 16 m.; I’m also unsure if Forsyth was trying to deliberately mislead the public or if he has been thus misinformed throughout his entire decision-making process.
The incumbent council should be proud of the benefits to the community this project offers, but also honest about its costs; hard decisions require courage, and good leaders should have the conviction to stand by their own tough calls without fudging the numbers or misstating the facts.
