NO SURPRISE POT DISPENSARY ENDED UP HERE

Editor:

I truly believe there is a reason the marijuana dispensary ended up
here and it has nothing to do with altruism. The owner of the house
that is being used lives in Pitt Meadows, as well the president of the
society lives in Pitt Meadows, while most of the staff live in
Vancouver so there was a reason this society ended up setting up shop
in Maple Ridge, and specifically in Haney.

I think it can be summed up by a quote from the president of the
society when he said: "We are not in one of the best neighbourhoods in
Maple Ridge, anyway. You can't make it worse."

Now, where would this attitude come from? Perhaps from viewing how
Maple Ridge, and in particular Haney has been, and continues to be
run. While Pitt Meadows gets events like the Lilith Fair music
festival, a potential investment of several hundred thousand dollars,
we in Maple Ridge get a property tax increase, more social quagmires
to deal with, and fewer opportunities for families and individuals to
rent houses to live in. I must say I have more respect for council and
staff that say nothing about housing needs, whether out of apathy or
the inability to form an actual opinion, than for the phonies who talk
about the need for housing and yet do nothing about a house that is
being used for a purpose that injects no money into the city (no
business licence, nothing) and will no doubt cost the taxpayers
thousands to deal with the longer the situation remains a shade of
gray not green.

Grover Telford

Maple Ridge