To the editor:
Re: “Oakridge public hearing attracts diverse crowd” March 11.
I am a resident of the Main Street corridor neighbourhood. My family and I have lived in this area for over 20 years. I am opposed to the current redevelopment plans for Oakridge center.
I find it hard to understand the need for highrise towers of 30 storeys plus at this location. Currently there are six towers in the City of Vancouver — all in the downtown core — with more 40 storeys.
The Oakridge plan proposes two towers of 45 and 42 storeys and four towers of 36, 36, 30, 30 storeys and seven other lower towers of 18 or more storeys. This will put at least two of the towers in the top 10 tallest buildings in Vancouver and four towers in at least the top 20. All in an area with no other building greater than about eight storeys, which includes the existing towers at Oakridge Mall.
By any measure, the proposed tower heights are excessive for the Cambie and 41st. area. These highrise towers are being proposed for vanity reasons only. They suit the needs of the developer, but the proposed highrise towers are completely out of scope with the current and future needs of the Oakridge neighbourhood community.
Very few Vancouver residents oppose the need to increase the population density in the city and it does make some sense to continue to expand the highrises in the downtown where they already exist.
One of the reasons put forward for highrise towers is to allow young families to stay in Vancouver. How many of the apartments proposed for the Oakridge site have three bedrooms? Where will all these young families go to when they have a second child? Developers don’t like to add a third bedroom as it cuts into the profit margins. Some jurisdictions require a certain proportion of the development to have the third bedroom to allow for family growth.
Sadly, the creation of a highrise complex on this scale is going to be aesthetically and socially regressive. The community is not asking for a development on this scale. We should not let it happen in it’s current form.
Mark Stoakes,
Vancouver
