Daily Archives: February 7, 2010

By Doug Draper

The debate over a controversial plan to erect a 12-storey condo tower in front of one of the last stretches of lakeshore in the Fort Erie community of Crystal Beach open to the public raged on in the Sunday edition of The Buffalo News this Feb. 7.

The developer's image of a high-storey, big box condo that has become a subject of controversy over future development in the historic Fort Erie community of Crystal Beach.

The condo plan, as the front-page story in The Buffalo News reports, has received the support of Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin and a majority on his council, even as it has drawn waves of opposition from residents – dividing this historic beachfront community as the council prepares to vote this March 1 on changing its height regulations to permit the tower.

The Buffalo News story, which you can read by clicking on the following link http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/948395.html, quotes Martin at one point saying: “There will be those who see it (the condo plan) as a great beginning, the cornerstone of the redevelopment of Crystal Beach, and there will always be those who will wish for older days when the (Crystal Beach amusement) part was still there and it had a small-town collage atmosphere… I think the new history of Crystal Beach begins with this project.”

On the other hand, Wayne Redekop, a former Fort Erie mayor who once supported the idea of selling some of the land in front of what is actually known as Bay Beach in the Crystal Beach area to generate revenue for buying up more lakefront for public use, is thumbs down on this particular project in a community of mostly one or two-cottages and businesses.

“I think the 12-story condominium is completely out of character with the neighborhood. I think it’s pitting people of good faith against each other, creating problems for the municipality in terms of trying to move forward, and I think it appears very much as if the council is trying to ram something through,” Redekop said. Continue reading →

By Doug Draper

Fort Erie’s mayor Doug Martin has already picked out his favourite design for a companion span to the Peace Bridge and he wants to see governments on both sides of the border move forward with building it as soon as possible.

Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin feels this arched design for a companion span, depicted in this image, is the most compatible to the existing bridge of five designs under review.

“It’s critical to both sides (Canada and the U.S.) that we move forward with this,” said Martin, whose border community has been working with senior levels of governments in both countries for years to address the growing traffic problems on a three-lane bridge opened as a major border crossing 83 years ago.

“The Peace Bridge expansion has to be a priority. … It is a vital link (between the two countries,” added Martin. “The existing bridge (by itself) has become an obstacle to traffic.”

Martin said of five designs for a companion span for the Peace Bridge displayed by the Peace Bridge Authority at a series of recent open houses in Buffalo and Fort Erie, he prefers an arched design that U.S. federal and state agencies have approved for review because it is more compatible with the arched lines of the existing bridge.

But some, including a few residents who have left comments in recent weeks with Niagara At Large, wonder why authorities don’t simply dust off the old blueprints for the original Peace Bridge and build a companion span identical to it.  And that would be an even better idea if the bridge could be built as quickly as it was back then. Continue reading →

By Fiona McMurran

No doubt some will be delighted at the Harper government’s recent announcement that Canada and the United States will be signing a new trade agreement by the middle of this February.

For an economically depressed region like Niagara, access for Canadian companies to the ‘Buy American’ stimulus program may be welcome news indeed. At last, Niagara might become an Economic Gateway in more than just name!

But don’t break out the champagne just yet. This deal is not a cause for celebration. Far from it. As we should know by now, in Harper land, things are never what they first seem to be. Continue reading →