LETTER: New Saanich developments show lack of imagination

I read with great interest the letter from Lee Thiessen in the Oct. 22 Saanich News because it stated many thoughts I have had on this “gung-ho let’s build it big” mentality of our current council. Why do we need 10-15 storeys in our residential areas? Saanich is quickly losing its lovely leafy neighbourhoods, to be replaced by really ugly, no-imagination, too-tall, Lego-block buildings. As Lee Thiessen said, “mind-numbingly dull buildings containing overpriced tiny spaces designed to churn through transient tenancies.” Would people want to raise a family in such a place? Think of the blocks on Mackenzie and Shelbourn – no imagination put into those buildings, just Lego-block construction. And if their “plaza” is going to be like Tuscany Village’s “plaza”, which is really a badly planned parking lot, I say, why bother trying to make it something it isn’t? I will say the Tuscany Village height restriction is more in keeping with what Saanich could do, and isn’t doing. On the whole, I find it disheartening in the rush to meet the demands of housing, so little charm and character is being applied. Jan Cook Victoria