I read your article on the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s consideration of different planning scenarios for the future with interest (“RMOW’s Whistler Sessions are meant to ‘provoke’ you,” Pique, June 30).
The last time I visited Whistler was many years ago and I was gobsmacked by the amount of traffic and development, both in Squamish and Whistler, that has taken place since then. A quick perusal of local real estate shows only the wealthiest can hope to buy homes or property in the area, and your article points to striking further increases in traffic, population and development.
It is clear to me, and I’m sure to many others, that fulfilling those projections will increasingly detract from the environment and original quality of the area that made it so attractive. The end result will be a sort of humongous amusement park with higher-density accommodation and suffocating traffic due to the limitations set by Highway 99 and the mountainous terrain.
If this is what the public wants, so be it, but if not, I believe strict limitations on further development should be set in the near future with preservation of the environment as the No. 1 goal. Planners could adopt regulations that apply to national parks to this end. This is not a perfect solution as, although the number of visitors and residents will be limited by camping and accommodation availability, day visitors, traffic, real estate prices, and other prices will undoubtedly continue to escalate.
But the beauty and nature of the place will be better protected, which is the main point, isn’t it?
