Agenda Package - City of Vernon

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Jim & Lisa lsnardy [jlm06@telus'net]
Sunday, February 07,2010 3:40 PM
Public Hearings
Rezoning bylaw 5234 (6500 Okanagan Ave) File 2on00148
fì[iìi-.ivEiJ
Dear Sir/Madam,
we are Jim ad Lisa tsnardy located at 6529 Apollo Road. That would be the last house on the street before the proposed
development.
we have always been against this development because we bought a rural property for the peace and quiet' we also
believe there are other iocations for affordable housing projects that would better serve Vernon's citizens such as the
land for sale on old Kamloops Road directly across from the booming Anderson subdivision and where many people
who require affordable housing are employed. However after several years of watching this project push ahead
regardless of the opposition and the lack of support from the community we have come to accept that this will happen
whether we want it to or not.
our home currently has a fantastic view of the city of Vernon. lt was the selling feature when we bought this home 9
years ago. We also bought here because the school was small and the area was rural and quiet'
we were encouraged to hear that the plan had recently been changed to include a large green space between the
existing houses on Apollo and the new development. lt was nice to actually see the committee listening to the
residences and we thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad. when we received our invitation to this city council meeting
with the artist renderinjwe noticed that our home is the only one not given the green space buffer. We will have
condos erected directfiacing our yard in the space where the existing end of Apollo Road meets Longacre'
When I vi_ewed these plans I had several thoughts. First, I was really hoping to see a playground at the corner of Apollo
and Longacre. This would help the existing neighbourhood kids get to know each other and help the new kids integrate
with the area. tt would be nice to see . ,.i" fun place for thr kids in this community to play as I believe this is the only
area in vernon where no such place already exists. Both Ellison and oKL Elementary are over a KM away'
My second thought was why would you put condo's up over the existing Apollo Road to build out l'00 feet and then put
in a new road. This really seems like a waste of resources, r nother issue that we have is that the next council is not
angedandthewholeaffordablehousingissuecouldbe
salineupofcontractorsthatarewillingtobu¡ldth¡s
ing,halffinisheddevelopmentsthathavebeenapprovedall
to sell these homes too? What kind of public
inheretogettotheirjobsthatarenowherenearwhere
ploymentinthiscity?WhatWillthecriteriabeforwhocan
has the money to buy? Will we wind up with a bunch of
ountain, and pocketing huge amounts of money and
rhoodsthatlookprettyhighclassfromartistrenderings.
ve a home out here or will they still have to rent ¡n
downtown Vernon? Where willthe new schools be located to support the families moving into our neighbourhood, is
council willing to help fund the building of these schools and employment of a bunch of new teachers out of funds from
the sales of these homes, or will the taxes for all of Vernon be raised to help our financially troubled school district? Has
this even been considered or did I miss seeing the new schools on the artist renderings?
My final comment ¡s to where I see Apollo Road follows straight through the new development almost to Fulton' I see
how fast the teenagers and irresponsible drivers drive on okanagan Avenue and subsequently Longacre Drive' I know I
t
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