I guess I should add my public opinion about the mixed-use project proposed for Lougheed.
I feel this style and scale of development is too ambitious for Mission. Not that I think we shouldn’t be ambitious, but maybe in a different direction.
For one, we are in a housing crisis that is looming in the whole of the Fraser Valley. Who will these apartments be marketed to? We need dedicated rentals geared to average citizens.
The Union of BC Municipalities became aware of this at their last conference and are lobbying the government for the funding they are offering. Is Mission not involved? We were not named on the report.
Two, why does such a small town need an expanded gaming facility? BC has just cracked down on organized crime involving gangsters working together to launder drug money through BC casinos. Known world-wide as the Vancouver model, it has been fueling our drug trade and fentanyl crisis and found its way into our housing market.
Officials are worried about where it will show up next. Some of these attached apartments could conveniently be used as a hotel for high rollers. Do we really need to go there?
Third, it looks like it belongs in Coquitlam, or somewhere like Richmond. The model, with all the shops, etc. doesn’t seem to jive with what Mission is about, for me anyways – a city with a small town feel.
Can we go back to the drawing board and leave out the shops and gaming centre, and make a beautiful treed apartment and housing complex instead?
Val Sprott
Mission