The Editor,

Re: "Casino fears are unfounded," the Now, Nov. 15.

I was seriously annoyed with Beau Simpson's commentary.

To the hundreds of families who live near the proposed site, these fears are very real. Most of my neighbours along King George Boulevard, McNally Creek and the Hazelmere area feel that this is the wrong development in the wrong location.

I am deeply concerned about the negative impact this will have on my property value. If this goes through, we will see more houses for sale in the area, which will drag down value and thus increase demand and price for other areas of South Surrey removed from the east end of the peninsula.

I have a young family and do not feel good about uprooting them. We moved to McNally Creek to get away from the unchecked development in the rest of Surrey. Unfortunately, Mayor Dianne Watts appears to want any and all development with no care for the neighbourhoods it affects.

If I look into the future to what this area will become with a casino and rampant commercial development, I see a completely different demographic than what is here now. Where once were retirees and young families in a nice quiet neighbourhood on the edge of rural countryside, will be another version of Whalley.

We will see an increase in traffic, noise and property crime. As for crime in the casino, it will attract organized crime types who will launder their dirty money in the casino. Why should we give criminals an avenue to do this in our community?

The process by which the public has been informed of this proposal has been extremely unfair. I understand that the developer who bought this distressed property has political privilege with Surrey and the provincial government, so I understand how this has been rammed through to this point.

The planning department admitted it did not have all of the impact studies done, and yet here we are at the 11th hour. A project of this type and scale should have way more transparency.

The people of Surrey cannot let this happen. Find a better location for it in a commercial district, or expand Fraser Downs.

So, Mr. Simpson, don't tell me that my fears are unfounded until you walk around my neighbourhood and see what I see coming around the bend.

Dr. Todd Lannard, Surrey