Just relocate the screen - Be reasonable!

Chosen as a 'Top letter' from amongst hundreds of complaint letters and emails received about the giant digital billboards at BC Place Stadium:


Subject: 'Just relocate the screen - Be reasonable!'

The Honourable MLA Mary McNeil,

Thank you for your direct message on Twitter.  To those paying attention however, it would sound as though your office is seeking concessions regarding two instances of impermissible misconduct by PavCo:  1. non-compliance with City by-laws and 2. contempt regarding the health and well-being of this community.  Please know in the strongest possible terms that these are Non-Negotiable.  This abusive giant screen must be taken down immediately and relocated to a venue where it is not directly harassing an entire residential glass community.

Reduction of hours and immeasurable-and-ambiguous ‘dimming’ are not at all what this community has been demanding. Perhaps your office has forgotten that this is a residential glass neighbourhood and that this oversized abomination is at point blank range from our children’s bedrooms.  Any reasonable observer will conclude that if PavCo had wanted less light in our homes they would have bought a smaller screen and they would have pointed it in a different direction.  This abusive giant screen must be taken down immediately and relocated to a venue where it is not directly harassing an entire residential glass community.

By allowing your office to be placated by a supposed promise of ‘reduced hours’, you are essentially accepting that PavCo decide when our families can enjoy their glass homes.  Recall that if the giant screen remains in place, our community will forever remain hostage to this billboard assault on ‘main event nights’, with PavCo operating the screen until whatever random hour that pleases their cash-abundant advertisers.  Notice also that this concept put forward by PavCo that a reduction of operating hours on some nights ‘solves the issue’ is ill-formed as it suggests that continued harassment of this community and disregard for City by-laws is perfectly acceptable so long as it's not perpetuated all of the time.  This abusive giant screen must be taken down immediately and relocated to a venue where it is not directly harassing an entire residential glass community.

As the provincial representative of this community, we will expect that your office strongly voice our demands to Minister Bell and to Premier Clark; we are counting on your strong support of this community and of our demands on this non-negotiable matter.  This abusive giant screen must be taken down and relocated to a venue where it is not directly harassing an entire residential glass community.

 - An error becomes a mistake when you refuse to correct it -

Regards,
David Cookson