Discussions

Here is the text of a letter to the editor that I wrote to the Brandon Sun It was published in today's edition. Please provide your comments.  
 
 
I anticipate that a few days from now, we’ll be told that developer Yogesh Goradia’s May 15 deadline has passed: that the City of Brandon refused to reconsider its opposition to Mr. Goradia’s proposal and that Mr. Goradia is taking his project to a more forward-thinking city that will welcome him with open arms.  
 
When that happens — and I am certain it will — Brandonites will be fed a number of reasons why the city was right to say “no” to Mr. Goradia. Few, if any, of those reasons will hold up to any degree of scrutiny.  
 
In an effort to separate the facts from the city’s fiction, it is useful to debunk some of the myths before they make it to print.  
 
Myth No. 1: The Promenade Project would harm Brandon’s tax base.  
 
Wrong. Municipal taxes are not based upon population. They are based upon the assessed value of land and buildings located within the municipality. Even if 3,000 homes were built by Mr. Goradia outside Brandon city limits, it would not affect Brandon’s tax base one iota. The only way that Brandon would see a loss of any tax revenue would be if 3,000 homes within Brandon were demolished. That isn’t going to happen.  
 
Myth No. 2: The project violates the Brandon and area development plan.  
 
So what? There have been several development plans over the years that have been regularly amended and/or ignored when it suited the purposes of city council. If the project doesn’t fit the current plan, there are one billion reasons why the plan should be changed.  
 
Myth No. 3: The Promenade Project would strain Brandon’s emergency services.  
 
Wrong again. The RM of Cornwallis would be responsible for supplying emergency services, which would presumably be paid for from the property taxes paid to Cornwallis by the owners of the homes in the development. If Cornwallis contracts with Brandon for certain emergency services (for example, fire and ambulance), then Brandon would be fairly compensated, just as it is under other existing contracts involving RMs.  
 
Myth No. 4: The project is too close to industrial activities like Nexen.  
 
First of all, this isn’t Brandon’s problem. It’s something for Cornwallis to address. Second, if this concern is sincere, why are we allowing the hundreds of people who currently live near Nexen to continue to live there?  
 
Third, the Simplot/Koch and Ayerst facilities are far closer to east end homes than Nexen would be to the Promenade Project. Should we evacuate those homes?  
 
Fourth, the mayor had no problem shoe-horning the Shape Foods industrial plant next to an east end neighbourhood last summer, ignoring the opposition of residents. Why the double standard?  
 
Finally, it’s a bit rich to hear the mayor say he’s concerned that chemicals might threaten the safety of people living miles away from Nexen, considering how hard he fought to have police officers and firefighters work on the chemically-contaminated site at First Street and Rosser Avenue.  
 
Myth No. 5: This is prime agricultural land that should be used to grow food.  
 
Wrong yet again. The land on which the Goradia project is proposed is marginal agricultural land that is mostly used for pasture. If the mayor seriously objects to residential development gobbling up good farm land, he should put a stop to the Waverly/Brookwood developments. As if that would ever happen.  
 
Myth No. 6: This project will hurt Brandon’s economy.  
 
Please. How can hundreds of millions of dollars being spent in Brandon on building materials, furniture, appliances and other items be bad for Brandon’s economy?  
 
There are other myths that are just as ridiculous, but those are the top six. My point is this: Brandon is on the verge of losing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When that happens, Brandonites are entitled to know the real reasons why Mr. Goradia has been treated so badly. They deserve more than the half-baked, insincere nonsense that our mayor has been peddling up to now.  
 
They deserve the truth.