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North Saanich Community Plan


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#1 G-Man

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Posted 26 October 2006 - 09:59 AM

There is a locked article on the TC website titled:

N. Saanich community plan nears fruition


Village centres remain most contentious issue

If anyone can post it I would love to read it.

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#2 m0nkyman

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Posted 26 October 2006 - 10:40 AM

N. Saanich community plan nears fruition
Village centres remain most contentious issue



Kim Westad, Times Colonist
Published: Thursday, October 26, 2006

It has cost more than $100,000 but North Saanich's revised Official Community Plan is inching toward completion, with councillors still fine-tuning the most controversial element of the plan -- village centres.

Three village centres were initially proposed in the revised OCP, and they drew howls of protest from many in the largely affluent, rural community. Some suggested they were the beginning of large-scale development, with rumours of strip malls leading to the demise of the country lifestyle.

That was never the intention, said council, which has clarified what is meant by village centres in the draft OCP. The language is clear -- village centres are not strip malls, but are small, community-friendly clusters of local businesses located in areas that are already being used in such a way.

Only two are now proposed: one at the intersection of McTavish and East Saanich roads, and the other at West Saanich and Wain roads.

Still, though, councillors are at odds at just what should be included. On Monday night, they voted 4-3 in favour of removing "multi-family residential" from either site.

That means that village centres would not include any housing, something several on council didn't like.

"I really believe we do have to pay some attention to providing affordable housing for seniors and young families," said Coun. Bob Shaw.

The draft OCP will next go to four neighbourhood meetings for input. They are to be held Oct. 30, at the Glen Meadows Golf Course at 1050 McTavish Rd.; on Nov. 1 at the municipal hall at 1620 Mills Rd.; on Nov. 2 at the Deep Cove School gym, at 10975 West Saanich Rd. and on Nov. 7 at McTavish School gym, at 1720 McTavish Rd. All meetings are from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

#3 G-Man

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Posted 26 October 2006 - 10:46 AM

hey wanted to make village centres vibrant they should have had proposed second floor residential above the commercial. The thing is that despite what the council said about affordable housing, the residents don't want that sort of people there.

Oh well it was a good try on the councils part.

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#4 Oxford Sutherland

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Posted 26 October 2006 - 03:59 PM

Saanich should build some more Matticks Farm type of villages. It fits in very nicely with the surrounding area, and
it's not big box or strip mall like.

Brentwood Bay has some shabby looking buildings and a parking lot that could be replaced with a nice little
village with a few floors of residential.



#5 Galvanized

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Posted 27 October 2006 - 01:04 PM

On Monday night, they voted 4-3 in favour of removing "multi-family residential" from either site.

That means that village centres would not include any housing, something several on council didn't like.

"I really believe we do have to pay some attention to providing affordable housing for seniors and young families," said Coun. Bob Shaw.


Wow, that is really disapointing.
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#6 Mike K.

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Posted 27 October 2006 - 02:58 PM

North Saanich just told the rest of the region that social and "affordable" housing is none of their concern, but instead the concern of other municipalities.

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#7 FunkyMunky

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Posted 03 November 2006 - 12:28 AM

Council drops residential concept for village centres

By Christine van Reeuwyk
Nov 01 2006


Multi-family housing won't sprout up in North Saanich village centres.

Councillor Bob Williamson led the parade that took "high-density development" and "residential uses" out of the proposed village centres in the draft Official Community Plan during the Oct. 23 committee of the whole meeting.

The proposed village centres have been whittled down to the McTavish/East Saanich area and West Saanich crossroads. Only the McTavish site included "multi-family residential" as a permitted use.

Williamson made a notice of motion during the committee meeting based on the May draft of the OCP. A new version was presented to council during their last meeting.

Williamson's motion was: "That high density development shall be excluded from village centres and reference to residential uses in village centres section 7.2.1 shall exclude multi-family high density development and that clause 7.2.3 shall be deleted and other appropriate references in the preamble to section 7 shall be deleted."

He declared five concerns with the high-density housing concept.

He couldn't see a reason that only the McTavish site had high-density residential in the permitted uses.

"If I understand the concept of what we're driving at for a village centre - what we're looking at is neither appropriate nor desireable," Williamson added.

He also felt if the goal was affordable or seniors housing, this was the wrong approach and those issues should be dealt with separately. Williamson said he supports the section of the draft OCP that pertains to affordable and senior housing, but doesn't feel it belongs in the village centre concept.

"At some time we will deal with affordable housing and seniors residences," Williamson said.

He also asserted that village centres may not be in agreement with Section 6 (residential) of the draft OCP and noted that the Ministry of Agriculture has concerns.

Section 7.2.3 stated that "Density of multi-family residential development in this area may not exceed 30 units per hectare". That section is not in the latest draft.

Coun. Bob Shaw noted the changes between the two drafts and reiterated the need to provide housing for seniors and families. "I'm not persuaded that a relatively modest establishment of relatively modest density, wouldn't be appropriate at the McTavish village centre," Shaw said.

Coun. Cairine Green said she found the residential prospect was one of the most contentious concepts of the village centre idea. Removing high-density housing as an option would address the traffic issue raised by residents of Dean Park, she noted.

Coun. Sheilah Fea agreed to not having high-density housing but would like to see some density of residential housing in the McTavish area. "To me this site is absolutely pristine," she said noting there are nearby schools, bus transportation and recreation centre.

"Having some density however you define it - also takes off pressure from the agricultural land," she added.

Mayor Ted Daly asked flat out whether Williamson would support village centres if density was removed.

"Why don't we discuss village centres, because it's time we fish or cut bait on that one," Daly said.

Williamson carefully worded his response. "I would be much more favourably inclined to village centres," he said, adding that he was not committed.

"I can't think of a better area in North Saanich to put multi-family housing," Daly said, disagreeing with one of Williamson's reasons behind the motion. "If you want to keep it away from areas that are more rural this is certainly the area to be looking."

Daly also responded to Green's concerns about Dean Park residents by wondering how East Saanich road residents felt about proposed traffic when Dean Park was built. "Sometimes being a more suitable place outweighs traffic," Daly said.

"I support the concept of village centres as most people know," said Coun. Anny Scoones, the last to weigh in on the discussion. "Never in my vision did I picture housing," she said, citing an article she wrote in the Peninsula News Review earlier in the OCP review process.

Scoones said her vision is "a few community services that we may or may not need." That might include some seniors residences in the form of houses.

"I think the best solution is to look at both sides and start really small if we have to," Scoones said.

The motion to remove the multi-family residential from the permitted uses in the proposed McTavish village centre passed with Shaw, Fea and Daly opposed.

Council previously agreed to smaller boundaries and excluding all Agricultural Land Reserve property from the proposed village centres. Those decisions are reflected in the latest draft OCP presented to council last week.

The public can see first hand the most recent changes to the OCP with a series of neighbourhood open house. The first of four meetings took place Monday night at Glen Meadows. The final three public open houses are Nov. 1 at the District of North Saanich council chambers , Nov. 2 at Deep Cove elementary and Nov. 7 at McTavish elementary. The open houses run from 7 to 10 p.m. and are in place to gather input from the community prior to holding the required public hearing on the plan.

mailto:reporter@peninsulanewsreview.com



#8 Holden West

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Posted 03 November 2006 - 12:34 AM

Did I read that right? Seniors don't belong in village centres? Where might Councillor Williamson be proposing we do with seniors? Send them off on ice floes?
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#9 Mike K.

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Posted 10 November 2006 - 08:36 AM

Looks like the village centres are a no-go, because they would represent too much change from the rural and affluent way of life in N Saanich. :roll:

North Saanich’s village centres on shaky ground
BY KIM WESTAD Times Colonist staff


After months of acrimony, debate and compromise, the controversial concept of village centres in North Saanich could be completely off the table.
Coun. Bob Shaw will make a motion Tuesday night that the draft Official Community Plan (OCP), which council has been debating for months. proceed to first and second readings without the section dealing with village centres.
Shaw said Wednesday that he’ll ask for the section to be removed, and that a community task force be struck to review all work done to date on the concept of village centres. The group could do further public consultation and provide a written report within six months of its first meeting.
“With the concerns expressed in the community, it behooves us to further study the whole issue,” he said.
Although Shaw is in favour of village centres, he said the current definition of them in the draft plan is so limited as to be almost pointless. The dispute over them also is holding up adoption of the new community plan, as well as distracting people from looking at other issues in the draft plan.
Council has been divided on just what — or if — community centres should be, as have residents.
Council winnowed the definition to cover a limited number of properties in two areas. One is at the intersection of McTavish and East Saanich roads, the other at West Saanich and Wain roads. The specific properties included in the village centre designation are already being used as businesses.
Council was clear in the end that village centres would not be strip malls, but small, community-friendly clusters of local businesses located in areas that are already being used in such a way.
Still, to some residents, village centres are the thin edge of the wedge, the encroachment of too much development into the largely rural, affluent community. To others, they are a natural progression of what is already at the two proposed sites.
“We’ve basically held up the conduct of district business as a result of deferring applications until the OCP is adopted. It’s reached a critical point,” Shaw said.
So far, some $100,000 has been spent on the draft plan. Council hoped to have it in place before the end of the year. A date for the public hearing required on the draft OCP could also be set Tuesday night.

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#10 Caramia

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Posted 10 November 2006 - 05:14 PM

How depressing.
Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
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#11 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 10:13 AM

Today's T-C has an article about the problems with overhauling Official Community Plans, focussing on North Saanich's recent process in particular: [url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=174ed784-4463-414f-b703-cf9709f1d8f3&k=75867:f6e23]Planners learn to tread lightly when land-use issues arise[/url:f6e23], by Kim Westad.

Excerpt from the article:

"Official Community Plan" is an antiseptic sounding term for what is really a document that describes the soul and vision of the community, said Leonard. People won't get involved in budgets or administration, Leonard said, but they will with land use, perhaps because it's a chance to see tangible results for their efforts. Don't want to see development in your area? The OCP consultation process is the time to make that known.

Land use is an issue that reflects individual values, Leonard said, and those can't be argued with.

"People are speaking from their conscience, based on their values. Everybody is right because what they are saying is a reflection of how they feel."

(snip...)

Advice for other municipalities embarking on an OCP review?

"Involve the community closely from the very beginning and have an open and transparent process," North Saanich Coun. Cairine Green said. "The plan in the end belongs to the community, not the politicians. It should be a creation of the community."

The article ends with this addendum:

WHAT IS AN OCP?

An Official Community Plan is a municipality's long-range planning document. It's a blueprint of sorts, outlining the planning vision for a community for the next five to 10 years, and forms the basis for most land-use decisions. An OCP's policies are to reflect the desires and values of the community

It steers such things as growth management, servicing, transportation, environmental protection and the promotion of agriculture. The document says where development can happen, where a park is, even where garbage goes.

Any review of an OCP requires extensive public consultation. Public input forms the direction for the revisions of the existing plan. Reviews are done every five to 10 years, to see whether the goals, objectives and policy directions remain consistent with what the community wants.

Any changes go to a public hearing before council votes on them.


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#12 Ms. B. Havin

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Posted 22 September 2007 - 10:05 AM

From CivicInfoBC today -- North Saanich is very satisfied with its council and district services:

Saturday, September 22, 2007
North Saanich Citizens Satisfied With District Services
By District of North Saanich

NORTH SAANICH - During the summer, the District of North Saanich contracted Ipsos Reid to conduct a citizens' satisfaction survey to better understand citizens' satisfaction levels, attitudes, needs, and priorities.

Three hundred North Saanich households were randomly selected to participate in the survey. The District is pleased to report that 99% of respondents feel that the quality of life in North Saanich is very good. Most survey respondents provided comments reflecting a positive and satisfied community. It is significant to note that 89% of those surveyed indicate that Staff is doing a good job and that 45% of those respondents rated staff's performance as "very good" (the norm for the "very good" rating is 19%). North Saanich residents are generally satisfied with the services provided by staff and Council, and feel that they receive good value for their taxes. North Saanich is also perceived to be a very safe place to live and with very few crime-related issues.

Citizens would like to see local leaders focus greater attention on growth, the environment, municipal government services, transportation, and taxation/ municipal government spending.

Results also indicate that citizens want to receive more information from the District and note that the best ways of getting this information to residents are by mail, newsletter, email and the website. North Saanich residents would rather see the District increase taxes than cut services.

* View the full text of this press release[/url:1a90f]
* [url=http://www.northsaanich.ca/__shared/assets/2007_Citizen_Survey1959.pdf:1a90f]View the Citizen Survey Report[/url:1a90f]
[url="http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/302n.asp?newsid=2341"]http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/302n.asp?newsid=2341


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#13 aastra

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Posted 07 January 2008 - 01:49 PM

Excerpts from a letter-to-the-editor about how Sidney lacks vision for its waterfront. Apparently Windsor, Ontario had a great vision for its waterfront. They didn't do anything.

If only southwest BC were more like Ontario.

Sidney lacks vision for waterfront

...along the waterfront in Windsor, Ont., Riverside Drive stretches for miles...A councillor with vision and determination fought to make sure that for miles along the waterfront no building development be undertaken.

Now, for miles there is parkland and parking space for the citizens of Windsor.

In Sidney, apparently no one on council has such a vision or determination.


Full Letter:
http://www.canada.co...69-cf566e83adf3

#14 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 07 January 2008 - 02:00 PM

Excerpts from a letter-to-the-editor about how Sidney lacks vision for its waterfront. Apparently Windsor, Ontario had a great vision for its waterfront. They didn't do anything.

If only southwest BC were more like Ontario.



Full Letter:
http://www.canada.co...69-cf566e83adf3


Well, not entirely true about doing nothing. They did build parking spots.

#15 LJ

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Posted 08 January 2008 - 12:19 PM

They have parking spots allright but not much else. Nobody goes there because there is nothing to see or do.

If you have a waterfront walkway with activity and shops and something to see, you get a lot more people utilizing it.

#16 Robb

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Posted 14 April 2016 - 10:40 AM

North Saanich is taking a survey:

 

"Welcome to the District of North Saanich's 2016 Community Survey. The purpose of this survey is to obtain District of North Saanich residents’ feedback on the core community values and goals reflected in the Official Community Plan, and on increased density housing in two areas of North Saanich."

 

https://ipsossurvey.ca/northsaanich



#17 Nparker

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Posted 14 April 2016 - 10:42 AM

North Saanich is taking a survey:

 

"Welcome to the District of North Saanich's 2016 Community Survey. The purpose of this survey is to obtain District of North Saanich residents’ feedback on the core community values and goals reflected in the Official Community Plan, and on increased density housing in two areas of North Saanich."

 

https://ipsossurvey.ca/northsaanich

I wish the City of Victoria would offer these types of surveys. Then again, the results might get hijacked by those with more time on their hands than brains in their heads.



#18 Robb

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Posted 14 April 2016 - 11:05 AM

"Then again, the results might get hijacked by those with more time on their hands than brains in their heads."

 

Isn't that all municipal politics though? :P


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