To the editor:
Concerning the refusal of the Marriott Hotel, I agree this is a shame as it would be a beautiful landmark for Kelowna.
This hotel [The Marriott proposal was for two hotels on one site at highways 97 and 33: Kelowna Turns Down Hotels Footprint, June 15 Kelowna Capital News] would create temporary and ongoing employment; it would boost our economy and possibly attract more tourists, however on the other hand it would take employment and business away from our already established hotels sites, local businesses which also provide employment to our community.
Therefore what the council would have had to determine is whether our tourist industry is large enough to support our already established businesses, which we are obligated to support, as well as an expansive Marriott Hotel.
I believe that this would have been a very difficult decision.
I believe that if I were on the council I would not be able to risk the survival of our current businesses by bringing in a mega business which could cause our local businesses to close down.
I would have to know the statistics on our tourism to be able to make an accurate decision.
We can't stop these big corporate companies forever if we want to grow, but just how big do we want to get? Do we want to remain a large town or Vancouver in the Interior?
If we're going to grow then we need to have some overpasses to get across the highway and a truck route that bypasses the city altogether, or we're going to see major increases in accidents.
Let's take care of getting our roads ready before we grow any further, so that our roadways can accommodate the increase in traffic, and then look at growth potentials.
Linda Barwick, Kelowna