Commercial development on lakefront is inappropriate

The Town of Chestermere is set to approve a bylaw to rezone two residential properties at the north end of West Chestermere Drive for commercial use as: “Restaurants, Convenience Stores, Take-out Food Services, Outdoor Cafes, Offices, and/or Specialty Food Stores.”
I find the proposed zoning amendment allowing commercial development on residential lakefront property completely inappropriate, undesirable and indeed absurd. This bylaw should be voted down unanimously.
How on earth is this proposed strip mall of any benefit to anyone except the developer? There is certainly no benefit to the residents of Chestermere, -quite the contrary: this will inevitably be another lakefront eyesore.
There is plenty of room for commercial development in Chestermere, but it should not be allowed on the lakefront. We already have the ubiquitous Tim Hortons and A&W franchises on desirable lakefront-adjacent property which, in many residents’ opinion, is an eyesore, has absolutely no character, and should not have been approved. (They could easily have been placed across the street.)
Where will it end? Apparently the developer owns at least one additional residential property in the same vicinity whose likely purpose is further commercial development. I think it will only end when this mayor and council realize the harm they are doing to the community. The lakefront, including the residential shoreline, is a precious resource that is apparently being slowly and incrementally eroded. How will Chestermere look 50 or 100 years from now?
When was the last time that any council member got in a boat and toured the lake? The beauty of the lake shoreline is precisely the residential houses, serene backyard gardens, and green residential landscaping; not to mention the natural and undeveloped areas at the north and south ends of the Lake. That is what lake-users enjoy, not the concrete jungle of the boat launch area and assorted fast-food franchise establishments on the northwest side of the Lake!!! Most residents launch their boats and then get away from that area.
It is the lakefront owners who preserve the beauty, maintain the shorefront and develop the scenic appeal of the lake. Approving this rezoning would be another step in the slow destruction of the beautiful jewel of this community. What we really need is a bylaw and commitment from Council to permanently maintain the residential character of the lakefront, and enshrine that commitment in a Town Charter. What is going to make Chestermere stand out as a unique and desirable community?? -certainly not a “McDonalds” on the lakefront. How can this be part of the Development Services mission to build “an exceptional place to call home”?
How would council members like to have their next door residential land suddenly become a noisy strip mall? This is completely unfair to the residents on the north end of West Chestermere Drive. If the Town bought the subject land and turned it into a park for general, non-commercial use, that might be more acceptable and would give more residents access to the lake. But commercial establishments should only be allowed across the street from the lakefront, at the closest. There needs to be a buffer between commercial use and residential use. That is what anniversary park does now.
If Mayor Mathews supports this rezoning application, she is betraying her political roots. It was she who was one of the leaders that opposed the re-zoning of Rockyview land when a large power plant was being proposed in proximity to Chestermere in 2001-2002. Her crusade for the underdog (Chestermere residents) at the time helped to publicize and defeat the Rockyview rezoning application. We were all thankful for that, but now she appears to be abandoning her ideals in this analogue, although smaller, rezoning issue. How ironic and sad.
Sincerely,
Mike Ranger (lakefront resident)