Saanich couple faces $300,000 storm drain bill

Michelle and Simon Gowing map out the plans for their new Saanich house.

They bought the property in August and initially planned to renovate it. They completed the proper inspections and structural safety checks before buying, but after tearing up the floorboards, they found a cracked foundation, something not found in their inspection.

They decided to start from scratch and knock the original home down, but that’s when everything took a turn.

“We had all of our plans, our architect’s designed, we’d spoken with the municipality. We were ready to submit for the building permit and the demolition permit and at that point, when we did do those submissions, that’s when we were flagged,” Michelle said.

https://www.cheknews...nEhYYx6nOVCXxvU

whoops.  looks like someone should not have torn down the house.  anyway with some luck they can turn that lemon into lemonade.  maybe upgrade the storm system to a capacity they can run a lemonade manufacturing business on the property.  or maybe a distillery.  or both.  Saanich Lemon Gin.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 24 October 2020 - 07:24 PM.

It's all about safety and making housing more affordable, right?

 

...$300,000 for one family is a lot, and usually this rule pertains more for subdivisions and large developments but admits this is a unique situation.

No problem, there's an easy fix. Allow a subdivision or a larger development there.

Wait, what? That wouldn't be allowed?

I'm not a homeowner so am coming into this relatively uninformed. Does not the home owner's responsibility begin and end at the property line? So if Saanich is the one wanting the storm drain run up the street, then Saanich should be the one making it happen, and then the homeowner pays for connecting the property to the storm drain.

Saanich seems to be throwing their weight around on this, though I also think the homeowners may not have gone into this fully informed or prepared.

I talked about this on another forum...

Have the owners hire a p.eng to design a rain garden with overflow into a rock pit. Force owners to connect when the city eventually installs storm. Holding them hostage when none of the existing homes on the street are hooked up to storm is ridiculous.

All the government does (all three levels) is put policies in place to make homes UNAFFORDABLE but all we hear about is AFFORDABLE housing....wtf.

Edited by MarkoJ, 25 October 2020 - 12:43 PM.

 

All the government does (all three levels) is put policies in place to make homes UNAFFORDABLE but all we hear about is AFFORDABLE housing....wtf.

Going on ~75 years now.

Shockingly for councillors didn’t support the variance? Wow. Do we have a voting break down by chance?

Chambers, Mersereau, Brownoff and Brice in opposition, apparently (I have not confirmed for myself)

Edited by Jackerbie, 13 January 2021 - 09:08 AM.

A happy ending to this story: Saanich Council approved a variance on a split 5-4 vote

https://www.cheknews...n-bylaw-733347/

seems like a fine result to me.  it's not like they are doing nothing to mitigate the storm run-off.  they are creating that rock thing.

Chambers, Mersereau, Brownoff and Brice in opposition, apparently (I have not confirmed for myself)

https://www.cheknews...n-bylaw-733347/

 

seems like a fine result to me.  it's not like they are doing nothing to mitigate the storm run-off.  they are creating that rock thing.

Although you have to admit the story about a being unable to repair a crack in the foundation thus the house had to be demolished is a little fishy.

 

Funny how Mersereau campaigned, in part, on housing affordability yet opposed this cost saving measure for the family.

Housing affordability doesn't apply to those who can actually afford to buy houses, obviously. 

A young family has convinced Saanich to drop its requirement for a new $300,000 storm-drain system, allowing them to build a rock-filled trench on their property instead.

The decision removes a major obstacle to Simon and Michelle Gowing’s plans to build a new home on their lot at 1971 Ernest Ave., near Camosun College’s Lansdowne campus

https://www.timescol...stem-1.24268531

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 January 2021 - 06:31 AM.