The City of Prince George’s plan to put a new transit yard at 18th and Foothills Boulevard has run up against some local opposition.
A petition against the preferred site appeared online yesterday.
“It just doesn’t make sense. It’s a beautiful recreational area and it’s supporting wildlife habitat,” says Susanne Williamson, who created the petition. “There are many other industrial sites that are sitting idle and this is in the back of many people’s homes.”
Williamson says her Change.org petition has received more than 600 signatures in its first 36 hours. She plans to present it to city council at Monday’s meeting.
“Our first delivery will be at Monday’s Council meeting. We will continue this until either they select a different site or a decision is made.”
The petition calls for an environmental impact assessment of the proposed site and says that an increase in bus traffic along Foothills and 18th could negatively impact users of the soccerfields, CN Centre and the Aquatic Centre and Ice Oval.
”Our primary objective is to retain the green space that they are proposing to pave over. There are several other locations in the city that have been considered but we were told by the City that they will cost too much to decontaminate. It’s not an acceptable answer when you’re planning for the long-term future of the city.”
Williamson did not provide any details as to the location of the other sites. She has also created a Facebook group on the subject.
We will follow up on this story at Monday’s city council meeting.
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