Citing “culture and religion”, a number of residents of Promontory (2688 West Mall) are complaining about the proposed location of St. John Hospice.

^[1]“Eighty percent of the resident in Promotory are Asian,”(sic) said Janet Fan, resident and organizer of the opposition to the site via email, “having dying people in our backyard is against our culture and religion.”

After students raised concern ^[2] about original plans to build the hospice right next door to Vanier, UBC responded ^[3] by expanding the search for a new site.

The objections of students were grounded in two parts. First, the site was bad for its neighbours.

Hospice residents would put pressure on Housing and Conferences to quiet Vanier down. Further, there are two heavily trafficked walkways through the site: the magical Vanier-Totem pathway, and the magical Bus Loop-Wreck Beach pathway.

Neither path is quiet, nor civil.

The second objection was that the site was bad for the hospice residents. While attempts would undoubtedly be made to curtail student behavior, you can’t regulate 18-year-old revelry into submission. Those in the hospice would be faced the post-bedtime Bieber-beats of Sherwood Lett residence.

The complaints of Promontory however, are rooted in a different philosophy.

^[4]Concerns ^[5] about property values and that “the ghosts of the dead will invade and harass the living,” have led these vassals to raise arms against their lord. Campus and Community Planning has responded by investigating the first claim.

This isn’t the first time this whiny tower has impacted plans at UBC. It often complained of nearby concerts at next-door Thunderbird stadium. Ironically, their complaints have in part turned the stadium into a cultural graveyard.

While propagating on the War on Fun is one thing, launching an insensitive War on Research, particularly when you have no identifiable affiliation with UBC, is another.

Whether or not these residents will get their way rests in the hands of their UBC lord. Should they not like the response, they may try appealing to the province. Fortunate for them, they don’t have to walk far to deliver a petition. Their MLA, Gordon Campbell, lives on the 18th floor.

Edit: 4:00pm January 13th. The title of the article was changed to reflect the sole owner of Promotory is UBC, and its tenants are 99-year lessees.