408 replies to this topic

[Kapten Kapsell]

Still awesome....if this doesn't get voted through I am running for council next time.

It doesn’t require a public hearing or a rezoning, so I imagine this is gonna pass when it goes up for its dev permit...

[Victoria Watcher]

It doesn’t require a public hearing or a rezoning, so I imagine this is gonna pass when it goes up for its dev permit...

 

really?  it's zoned for that height and fsr?  amazing.

[AllseeingEye]

Meanwhile some of the local FB group posters are up in arms about the potential loss of "yet more of Victoria's heritage".....its an effing gas station for crying out loud. First it was heritage parking lots and now apparently its latter-day 'heritage' hydro-carbon fueling stations. 

 

I used to live in Fairfield-CSV to 2012 and went there a grand total of one time and certainly wasn't bowled over by the quality of the fare; a fast search on current foodie reviews yielded this on the first entry I looked at, from a Kelowna patron just this month:

 

"This is a diner serving burgers, fries etc. The burgers were sub standard, this a restaurant themed around the planets - PLUTO being one. It's a tired diner, in need of refreshing...."

 

Hopefully Isitt & Co are in a good mood when the time comes for approval so they can just build it and move on with minimum fuss and strife.

Edited by AllseeingEye, 30 October 2019 - 06:56 PM.

[Nparker]

While the existing Pluto's building has some quirky architectural merit, the location desperately needs much greater density. If the folks decrying the loss of this piece of local history want, perhaps they can arrange with the new property owner to dismantle the structure themselves and rebuild it at another location.

[Victoria Watcher]

If the folks decrying the loss of this piece of local history want, perhaps they can arrange with the new property owner to dismantle the structure themselves and rebuild it at another location.

 

Yes.

[Nparker]

Let's see how important the Pluto's building is when it's their time and money on the line.

[G-Man]

I am strongly in favour of a re-purposing of the building or at least a portion of it. I think it could make a pretty awesome picnic structure in a park. It is an iconic shape of the old Pacific 66 chain. 

[G-Man]

There used to be one on Superior as well apparently. We should try and keep a piece of this somewhere. We should have moved past the throwing away of our heritage. It doesn't need to stay here but it should be saved. 

 

[Mike K.]

I am strongly in favour of a re-purposing of the building or at least a portion of it. I think it could make a pretty awesome picnic structure in a park. It is an iconic shape of the old Pacific 66 chain.

And quite the hangout, making said park a no-go zone.

[Torrontes]

So you think that this Council will want to pay homage to a U.S.- based retailer of gasoline products? That will be interesting to watch.

[Jackerbie]

really?  it's zoned for that height and fsr?  amazing.

 

The height requires a variance (30 m or 10 storeys is the maximum in the R-48 Harris Green District zone), but the density is OK as far as I can tell. The zone doesn't include a maximum density for residential uses, and the DCAP density bonusing framework doesn't apply to the R-48 zone.

[Rob Randall]

That's the classic 90s Harris Green zoning, height limits but max density. The intention was to create a super dense neighbourhood with full lot coverage but lots of upper floor setbacks. But not traditional highrises. High podium towers are for other parts of town.

[Nparker]

...High podium towers are for other parts of town.

The "classic" Harris Green zoning was a mistake from day one. 

[Mike K.]

The Harris Green plan was a disaster that thankfully was not taken up by mare than a handful of developers.

 

It was brought to us by the same mentality that delivered the Songhees.

[Victoria Watcher]

The Harris Green plan was a disaster that thankfully was not taken up by mare than a handful of developers.

 

It was brought to us by the same mentality that delivered the Songhees.

 

for all the songhees slagging it's a pretty swell place to live.  they need to tone down some road widths now though.  i guess maybe that can wait for the roundhouse to ever develop.  that reminds me what's going on there?

[Rob Randall]

The Harris Green plan was a disaster that thankfully was not taken up by mare than a handful of developers.

 

Some say it was just plain horse sense that developers didn't pony up the money.

[MarkoJ]

looking forward to the pre-sale marko?

 

I just want to see some cool buildings and density downtown. 

[Kapten Kapsell]

Some say it was just plain horse sense that developers didn't pony up the money.

They clearly couldn't find the mane attraction within the plan...

[G-Man]

And quite the hangout, making said park a no-go zone.

We should not design our public spaces to be hostile to everyone because of some challenges caused by the few.

On the oil company comment perhaps a use of it as a public art that includes discussion of the climate crisis. I just want it preserved in some fashion.

[G-Man]

People are very critical on this board of the short-sightedness of tearing down some of the architectural greats of the early 20th century but when it comes to modernist buildings it is evident that we as a people have not changed.