Patricia Circle residents ‘backed into a corner’

Dear Editor,

I am writing this letter in regards to the re-development of Patricia Circle. I am a former Jasperite who grew up in the north end of the circle and I still consider it my home. My parents still reside there and theirs is one of the four homes that did not have street access.

I am wishing to clarify some misconceptions surrounding this development. Despite what was stated in your article (‘Million-dollar Patricia Circle project set to start,’ June 14), residents in this particular section of the circle did not feel they needed a road. In fact, when my parents first built their home, they went to Parks Canada at the time with a petition to not have the road constructed.

Like their neighbours up until March, my mom and dad were very happy with the green space that was before them and were very upset with the thought of losing it. However, they felt this was the best possible solution given the other choice presented.

This brings me to my second point: the other option was not a simple repaving of the existing road.  Residents were told that, in the future, the green space in front of them could potentially be developed into high-density housing. If this ever happened without the road in front of my parents’ property, these homes would back right onto my parents’ fence line.

Residents have been asking the town for years to repave the horrendous road in the circle. It is impossible to navigate the crater-sized pot holes. Over and over they have been told that it is an alley and therefore not a priority, despite the fact that the only access some have to their homes is this road. To my parents, it felt like the town had them over a barrel. Neither option was taken lightly. There were many meetings amongst the neighbours, and many sleepless nights in making the choice they did.

It is a shame that they felt backed into a corner and had to make this decision.

Angela Novelletto

Whitecourt, Alta.