Paga A4 — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 19, 1992 ;TERRACE STANDAR Phone (604) 638-7283 fustration repo services and advertising agencies. Reproduction In whole os in part, without written permission, is speciticaity pronibited, _ Serving the Terrace area. Published on Wednesday of each week by Cariboo Press (#969) Led, at 4647 Lazelie Ave., Terrace, British Columbia. Stories, photographs, iilusiralions, designs and typestyias In the Terrace Standard are (ha property ‘of the copyright holders, including Cariboo Press (1969) Ltd.. its ik Authorized as second-class mall pending the Post (fice Department, for payment of postaga in cash. Rod Link:. ©» ESTAGUSHED APRIL 27, 1888 . . Pasian No. 7820 4647 Lazelle Ave., Terrace, B.C., VaG 188 Editor: Rod Link Fax (604) 638-8432 Gana | Publisher as ne ankpes ° Jott Nagel — ‘ ; — News/Community, Halcoim baxter - - awsispos . Rose Fisher -- Front Office Manager, Carolyn Anderson — ‘Typésatter-.- dso. Arlana Watts ~ Typesetter, Susan Credgeur — a Janet Vivelros — Advertising Consultant, Sam Colliar — “Advertising Consultant, ° Charlene Matthews — Circulation Supervisor _ : rie [Ome - a Production Manager: Edouard Credgeur Comptsing/Darkroom, VERIFIED * CIRCULATION | Special: thanks to all our contributors and correspondents for their time and talents. EDITORIAL “What's the point of having an official community plan if we don’t follow it?”’ Mayor Jack Talstra. Truer words were never spoken by the mayor. In this context, he’s referring to a council dust up over rezoning two lots. on Park from commercial to multi-residential use, The issue has occupied council for ‘months and a resolution isn’t to occur until next month. Despite the mayor's definitive. statement the real question’ could very well be: ‘“‘Does the city’ indeed have an official community plan?” There is such a creature on paper, yet it’s woefully old and out- dated, — An official community plan is council’s toad map for the future. It points the way to where any kind of development should ° _take place. lt outlines where industry should go, where residential areas should go, how dense housing: should be in. any location. ° Obviously, it’s important, A city without such a plan invites disaster of immense proportions. Cities and towns across North America are littered with such examples. A strong case can be made that the city’s current official community plan, because it is so outdated, doesn’t exist. The city has Wanted: City plan far outgrown those guidelines set years ago. There’s been trouble, for instance, in hav- ing land rezoned to permit apartments or other kinds of multi-residential develop- ments. As the downtown core fills up, . businesses will want to. filter out to ad- _ jacent streets. And as the city grows, so do the issues — and the needs — for recreation. We could use more green space, for instance. A not so hidden problem is that of affordable housing, Not everybody can plunk down the amount needed for the new houses dot- ting city street. There’s a desperate need downtown for adequate parking. This spring the city devised an ambitious plan to hold community meetings leading — toward a new official community plan. Somewhat ironically, the frenetic construc- tion season caught up with the planning department and the whole process is late. Instead of doing what its name implies, the planning department has been playing catch up and that could pose problems. Council is well advised to pour whatever money it takes into the new official com- munity plan. The city will continue to grow. Hasty decisions made today have unfortunate consequences tomorrow. i ‘nome my boys" b vi (fa Fa ew Kids ay... AOROSBE OAS. t0-day.... n= Wn We: ey ee DES The name game or s time for councit to lighten up a bit, Just recently it faced the problem of naming new. streets. One now bears the -name of-the first-baby- born on July Jin. .. honour: ‘ofthe’ country’s: 125th! ‘birthday. Now it's“drawing: up. alist of ‘pioneer — : family names. Both methods are gracious and worthy. Yet what happened to the past practice: of naming streets’ after former mayors? Consider Vic Jolliffe. Never a favourite ‘of past or current council: members, he has-a stubby little toe of an undeveloped lane named. after’him on the bench. And ‘how about HH about - Helmut Giesbrecht? Mayor stance? ~~ _during the 1980s and now the NDP mem- ber for Skeena, he’s so far been excluded. Could it be there’s some mean-spirited and petty attitude on the part of council? .., Can not political or “personal considera- “tions be set aside, at Jeast in this circum- Mayor Jack Talstra and Aiderman Mo _ Takhar.both have subdivisions underway that ‘require street’ names. Appropriate steps to recognize Mr. Giesbrecht and to give Mr. Jolliffe his rightful due are in order, If this city is to be seen as a place reaching adulthood, the same should ‘be. expected of its civic leaders. “Bike, don’ t drive : ' Convenience stores are the - cause of-half the traffic - and. “air pollution - in their neigh- bourhood, I bike at. sightsecing speed, : “gearing down for headwinds, - ‘steep hills, and tong inclines... So it takes me half-an ‘hour to. “Through - Bifocais by Claudette Sandecki | ‘pedal to our nearest. 24-hour. : a ‘store and home again:. Yet in.-° those 30 minutes, I may see - many subdivision neighbours driving the same route, return- ing in less than five minutes. Some neighbours make more, trips per day than Terrace ’ Transit. > Convenience ‘stores are so handy and efficient, nipping - over 10 them is no trouble. Al- though I consider more than ‘one daily: visit to-Terrace ex-... cessive _ barring unusual. cir- cumstances’ like’ hemorrhag: - “ing, any number of spur-of- - the litre’ of, milk she forgot to. . Besides: ‘In reality, of course, two trips to the. ‘corner,’store -uses/the © same amount of gas 4 as one trip ‘couldn't ‘be simpler. : Usually: the-moment appearances. al a convenience store secms rea- ‘sonable. - Because’ the corner store -is is "sa convenient; ‘going ~ “there. seems‘ to take-no tinie or gas. ; into Terrace, ‘but ‘far less time. In the time a‘ ‘mall shopper... circles the’parking lot-hunting “for a space to wedge’ inta, a ~ convenience store:shopper has time to-re-visit-the store far, buy with, her Province. 7 “their proximity, a dormer “store » parking | "it’s one row, ? all angles, inches . from). the: street, The, store’s . front door: is’ ‘80: MP front: some’ customers leave their motors running despite Lock It. or Lose It. Kids left waiting in the car can track mom’s - whereabouts through the plate _ glass window. Try. that at a/su- permarket! Best of all, shopping: i is ‘a cinch. The average’ shopping expedition is quicker than a bank heist. No convenience store cuslomer ever ap- proached the checkout to en- counter a ‘Closed. Next Lane . Please’. sign, or a snake of shoppers. impatiently waiting Aheif turn to pay, Short aisles replace shopping carls with wonky wheels. . Picking out a range of “groceries : in