To the editor:

As our realtor/mayor continues to trash planning, zoning and regulations that have evolved from consultation between the community and previous city administrations for decades, we are beginning to see tower developments instead of neighborhoods, sidewalks lined with townhouse walls instead of balconies and front lawns and a lengthening strip of concrete walkway labeled as lakeshore access.

He is allowing building heights near the lake so off the chart compared to the existing zoning that they warp the lifestyle of surrounding neighborhoods. The objective is to make real estate development as profitable as possible.

A blatant example is Green Square development. The rejection by council of variances including a 50 per cent increase in height had to be attributed to fatigue or unclear thinking, so (the mayor) ensured the waiver of the mandatory six month consultation period between developer and the community to get the proposal back on the agenda asap.

The OCP was the consensus vision of the city. Mayor Basran is now the facilitator enabling real estate developers to impose their will on the city landscape.

Houston, Texas prides itself for having no zoning or regulation to inhibit development. Mayor Basran and council are only slightly more subtle.

Don Henderson, Kelowna