[Horsell]

I hate to raise a notion such as “urban renewal”, and some of the negative connotations it may bring, but perhaps this area is one area of downtown where we need a new vision, a new plan, before there are any more spot re-zonings.

There are good things happening in this area, and a few more planned, but in my opinion there are a number of “tired” old properties for which the wrecking ball may be the best solution. There should be a moratorium on any further changes, and this includes those in the works such as the Hilton and the Delta parking garage, to this area until such a plan is developed.

In many ways it bothers me how the Fortis building is boxed in by less than desirable properties, taking away much of its “curb appeal”. I fully understand that you can only work with the land you own but it just seems a shame.

Let’s look a little to the east from Fortis and see another piece of prime real estate chopped to pieces, where Relish the Magic Wok and another building are. This needs to be consolidated into a single zone that will effectively restrict anything from going there that is NOT at least 12 stories tall.

Then there is the Delta parking lot and an outstanding proposal for a 4 or 5 level garage. This would again be a waste of prime land. We can do better. Bury the parking, build something on top.

The city is crying out for affordable housing, here is a thought, allow someone to build a 10 or 12 story apartment building next to Riverhead Towers.

I could probably go on and on, one property at a time, but I’ll leave it at that for now. Maybe what we need is a “design competition” for someone to come up with a vision for this area, a mix of commercial, residential, retail, hotel and whatever would make it a great place to live and work.