Re: “Blewett junkyard draws RDCK ire”
The recent publicity of Joe Moyer’s yard got me curious. So, during the light traffic of Labour Day I decided to take a motorcycle ride out there, to see what all the fuss is about. As far as I could tell, it is just that, a bunch of fuss.
I was surprised to see such a small plot of land that I could almost miss if I blinked while riding by. I also wasn’t in a car with a roof, window frames, and mirrors to block my view from the road. I did a U-turn and rode by it from both directions. I was expecting to see a real mess given all the recent attention but to me it seemed, looking from the road, that it was actually pretty well organized for a bunch of old cars and trailers.
On my way there, I rode past the abandoned gas station on Hall Mines Road, left for years, its contaminated soil sitting and festering, the ultra-rich petroleum company allowed to just leave it. And as I rode through Blewett, I noticed Western Auto Wreckers with far more old cars than Joe has, crunched and piled (which I don’t have anything against, by the way).
So, why all the fuss over Joe’s land? Are a handful of folks trying to sanitize our region for McMansion subdivisions, crass advertising on billboards (which we used to not tolerate), and abandoned gas stations? Is this the new Kootenay image we’re trying to foster, mimicking the Okanagan? Who gets to decide what is “unsightly” in the first place?
Josh Wapp
Nelson