URGENT MESSAGE TO ALL WRECK BEACH SUPPORTERS


PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS MESSAGE OR WEB SITE PAGE WIDELY TO ALL YOUR CONTACTS, FRIENDS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS, AND WRECK BEACH/NATURIST SUPPORTERS -- IN UNITY THERE IS STRENGTH. WE MUST PREVAIL. WRITE TODAY. IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO? And remember, we only have until October 31, 2005.

Judy Williams, CHAIR, WBPS

October 12, 2005

The Wreck Beach Preservation Society (WBPS) thanks Naturists everywhere for their generous and whole-hearted support of our battle of the towers here at Wreck Beach for the past 19 months. WE NEED YOUR LETTERS BEFORE THE FINAL DEADLINE OF OCTOBER 31 TO PROTEST THE HEIGHT OF THE FINAL TWO 18-STOREY PHASE TWO TOWERS. YOU ONLY NEED TO SEND TO TWO E-MAIL ADDRESSES AND/OR FAX TO JUDY WILLIAMS AT 604-856-9598.

We thank naturists and individual supporters (FCN, FQN, INF, TNS, NAC, SLUGS, W-CANR, AANR) from around the world, who wrote or sent donations or both. Altogether, the unity of naturists helped us raise thousands of dollars. NOW, HOWEVER WE NEED THOSE LETTERS TELLING UBC WHY WE DO NOT WANT TWO MORE 18-STOREY TOWERS ABOVE WRECK BEACH. THIS IS THE FINAL, FINAL DEADLINE, AND WE MUST HAVE YOUR E-MAILED OR FAXED LETTERS BEFORE OCTOBER 31, EVEN IF YOU HAVE WRITTEN BEFORE BECAUSE THIS FOCUS IS JUST ON THE LAST TWO 18-STOREY TOWERS. Donations may also be sent to Wreck Beach Preservation Society c/o Judy Williams, 28616 Haverman Road, Bradner, B.C., V4X 2P3, Canada.

Those of us in the vanguard in Vancouver, B.C., thank you all with gratitude, but we must ask you to step up to the plate one more time with either pen or computer in hand. We are launching a FINAL letter writing and petition signing campaign in our battle to preserve the beauty of Wreck Beach. In just three days, earlier this month, we received 50 letters before the October 5, 2005, public meeting. WE ESPECIALLY THANK ALL THE SLUGS WHO WROTE RECENTLY AND/OR WHO SENT DONATIONS. BLESS YOU.

Tower #1 now shows at low tide from out along the Breakwater and UBC in its arrogance says no one likes to go out there anyway. The tower lights blaze at night enticing migrating birds off course. Visitors from around the world come just to admire the view from near the mouth of the Fraser River so that they may look back across the vast tidal flats to admire the unbroken skyline where verdant, forested cliffs touch the blueness of the skies, and where the eagles train their young to hunt and glide the thermals.

At the October 5 Public Hearings, UBC unveiled plans for the last two 18-storey towers which will be visible from low to high tide areas in contravention of a GVRD July 29, 2005 resolution. We need new letters NOW of support against the heights and locations of those two towers, even if you have written before. UBC must understand that the public will be heard. We appreciate that the architects dropped the height of the original 20-storey tower closest to the cliff edge, terracing it from 5 to 7 storeys leading eastward away from the cliff edge toward Lower Mall Avenue.

We have 45,000 signatures on petitions, but WE NOW NEED YOUR E-MAILED or FAXED LETTERS AS WELL.

Also, if you have not yet signed our petition, go to http://www.wreckbeach.org/towers and add your name, address and e-mail or phone number to the petition.

In the winter months when there are fewer leaves on the deciduous trees, one will see Tower #1 from many points along the beach. And, unfortunately, the proposed two new towers will show even more than Tower #1 from various points along the beach because of increased visibility at the gully heads since they lie south of Tower #1. The bottom line is that simply because UBC continued building Tower #1 throughout our organized protests, that need not become the precedent for their forging ahead with the construction of Towers #4 and #5!

Bioengineering has already been suggested on the cliffs in order to protect buildings that should never have been built there in the first place. Plus a consultant has already called for interceptor ditches paralleling the cliff edge that would kill the trees for lack of water. And, that would lead to opened-up views and a possible re-interpretation of the Attorney General toward nudity on the beach.

On October 8, the Globe and Mail announced that UBC would be moving forward with Phase Two of the project BEFORE all public feedback is due by October 31, and before the GVRD Board has had a chance to vote on the issue. On October 6, one day after the public hearing, the UBC Advisory Urban Design Panel (AUDP) voted unanimously to accept the designs presented on October 5. Puzzling indeed.

We thus have our work cut out for us, and with your support through letters, e-mails, and donations, we can continue to stand up for our Naturist rights and beliefs.

However, we do not have time for posted letters. You must e-mail or fax your letter to Judy Williams (604-856-9598) as well as to Paulette Vetleson to ensure you make the October 31 deadline for public input.

You can use your own words, or you can adapt the wording below to which you may add your own reasons for wanting the views preserved. Please spread the word as widely and far a field as you can! You may want to talk about the importance of Wreck Beach and its drawing power for tourists from around the world. You may want to tell them that you visit the beach regularly and spend your tourist dollars locally, nationally and internationally to come here. You may want to talk about the healing nature of the beach and the benefits of getting away from urban concrete, glass and steel.

 

Other reasons people might not wish to see towers over the treeline besides these might be:

  1. Visibility from the beach cannot really be understood unless blimps are raised in the footprints of the two proposed 18-storey towers.
  2. Hardship cannot always be measured in months, money, and storeys because the importance of our sacred places to our health and wellness on the West Coast such as Wreck Beach, cannot be measured tangibly. An example would be that it would be ludicrous to try to put a price tag on the concept of souls being nourished/nurtured.
  3. Ecological considerations of the flora, fauna, and birds lives hanging in the balance of buildings intruding into their spaces, particularly the lighting at night.
  4. Canadian Wildlife Service needs to study the impact not only of tall towers on migratory birds but also of night lighting, especially in migratory routes, on migratory and resident birds.
  5. Grad students living in the present Tower #1 need an unbiased survey to determine if the tower really fulfills their needs. The Graduate Student Services have been asking for such a survey but it still has not been done, and yet UBC claims all the graduate students residing there are happy.
  6. Paved surfaces will increase run-off.
  7. Increased visibility along gully sight lines.
  8. Undocumented impacts on the screech owls and barn owls living in that area, particularly of increased foot traffic around their hunting and nesting areas, and of lights at night.
  9. UBC advised the public on Oct. 5 at the Open House and Public Meeting that space exists for future student housing at Totem Park and on the South Campus site.
  10. The reasons UBC has given for not wanting to put student housing at Totem Park and on the South Campus are that students need to all be located close together and that students would not want to walk an extra 10-15 minutes. That is the administration speaking. Many students welcome the chance for additional exercise, and besides, the campus transportation system needs to plan to reach those areas.

Thank you for passing along this information to as many people as you possibly can. That, of course, will be up to you. But, bottom line is that the Phase Two towers must be lowered from 18 storeys.

SAMPLE WORDING AND FORMAT OF LETTER TO BE FAXED OR E-MAILED TO JUDY WILLIAMS AND PAULETTE VETLESON (YOU NEED ONLY TO FAX OR E-MAIL TO BOTH JUDY WILLIAMS AND PAULETTE VETLESON BECAUSE WE WILL ENSURE YOUR LETTERS ARE DELIVERED BEFORE THE OCTOBER 31 DEADLINE, BUT PLEASE KEEP ALL THE NAMES LISTED IN THE SALUTATION BELOW.

PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR STREET ADDRESS, CITY, AND COUNTRY

Your Return Address (Please also include your city and country):

 

 

The Date: __________________________

 

 

Mr. Denis Pavlich, VP of External and Legal Affairs, UBC;

Mr. Johnny Carline, CAO, the Greater Vancouver Regional District;

Mr. Hugh Kellas, Manager, GVRD Policy and Planning;

Members, the GVRD-UBC Joint Committee;

Members, the GVRD Board of Directors;

Members, the UBC Board of Governors;

Mr. Ed Andrusiak, Manager GVRD Parks;

Mr. Mitch Sokalski, Manager, West Area Parks, and

GVRD Policy and Planning Department

 

Via e-mail to: judyw@wreckbeach.org and paulette.vetleson@gvrd.bc.ca

Via Fax to Judy Willams: 604-856-9598

 

 

Dear Decision Makers and Stewards of UBC and GVRD:

 

Re: Marine Residential Towers.

 

I strongly oppose the current proposal for this development. The level of housing is far too dense for the site and the towers will have a profoundly negative impact on viewscapes from the beach and Park, as well as on other Park values. I strongly recommend that UBC use an alternative location or design to reduce the impact of this development on the park and beach. The two 18-storey Phase II towers must be lowered on this site. These towers must not show from the beach because:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most sincerely yours,

 

 

 

(Your full name and either phone number or e-mail address)