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Langford and West Shore | 2022-2026 municipal term discussion


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#701 Mike K.

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Posted 09 January 2025 - 04:02 PM

Come to think of it, I wonder if the municipality currently owns or wands to own any of the neighbouring lots fronting Jacklin and Orono. Bringing the park to the street would be great for that permeability you’re referring to. It would be ideal, actually.

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#702 lanforod

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Posted 09 January 2025 - 06:35 PM

This purchase makes waaay more sense than this one: https://www.victoria...wntown-victoria

#703 dasmo

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Posted 09 January 2025 - 06:53 PM

It’s actuallye a fine sot for a park. I wish I owned 2818 Jacobson. That’s going to be a tower soon. If they can assemble the other lots that’s where the tallest building in the CRD will be built in 2031.

Edited by dasmo, 09 January 2025 - 06:54 PM.


#704 amor de cosmos

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Posted 10 January 2025 - 08:15 AM

park model in the tc
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https://www.timescol...r-park-10054206



#705 dasmo

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Posted 10 January 2025 - 09:23 AM

So much is wrong here. First the appraisal value. That’s based on it being a building lot not a park. As a building lot it’s also questionable since there is a big liability with removing all those tenants. A class action lawyer will be getting involved without a doubt. So it’s purchased for 9 million and the owner is given a donation receipt for the balance which basically means he gets $9 million tax free. The article describes his collusion with a new councillor to get this to happen. Then there is the brutality to those being evicted with the attempt to justify it by inflating the value and scale of the park.
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#706 Mike K.

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Posted 10 January 2025 - 09:28 AM

These parks are sold all the time, and residents are at-risk of displacement province wide. The residents are lease holders, and have five years to prepare for a move in this case. I don’t think the law can restrict a land owner from selling their land to whomever they want. The appraisal cannot be done for future use if the buyer wants to change the use. It has to be done on the current, zoned use and the market potential of the land. If anything, six acres in downtown Langford is cheap. It’s $15 million/acre in downtown Victoria.

The one question I have is if this land will no longer be used for mobile homes, will the value of the units fall? The city says it will pay assessed value plus 10%. But if values fall, the city will pay less. Or is it 2025 assessed value plus 10%?

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#707 dasmo

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Posted 10 January 2025 - 09:59 AM

These parks are sold all the time, and residents are at-risk of displacement province wide. The residents are lease holders, and have five years to prepare for a move in this case. I don’t think the law can restrict a land owner from selling their land to whomever they want. The appraisal cannot be done for future use if the buyer wants to change the use. It has to be done on the current, zoned use and the market potential of the land. If anything, six acres in downtown Langford is cheap. It’s $15 million/acre in downtown Victoria.

The one question I have is if this land will no longer be used for mobile homes, will the value of the units fall? The city says it will pay assessed value plus 10%. But if values fall, the city will pay less. Or is it 2025 assessed value plus 10%?

He has every right to sell it. I have every right to correct the narrative surrounding it. The headline could also be that he is selling it for $9,000,000 tax free because of a backroom deal with the city. He sells easy for $9,000,000 and get's a donation receipt for almost $9,00,000.  The tenants all get screwed in the middle of a housing crisis. Like they can move those homes. They aren't "trailers" and where can they move them to? 



#708 dasmo

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Posted 10 January 2025 - 10:06 AM

From the article when to go past the TLDR parts.

 

"Thursday’s announcement came out of the blue to the public, but the deal had been negotiated for two years.

It was unanimously approved by Langford council at an in-camera meeting in December." In-camera meaning the opposite of what it sounds of course. A private meeting. 

 

Coun. Colby Harder .... The rookie councillor played a major role in bringing the deal together.

“When I was campaigning for the election, I decided to go door knocking here,” Harder said Thursday. “A few months later, Ralph got ahold of me and invited me back to the property to discuss his plans for the land, which was a park.”

Stoerzer had already built a scale model of a park he envisioned for the site, but said he “lost confidence” in the previous council. He asked Harder if she could help him work with the city.

Harder said she worked with council and senior staff to see how they could forge a deal that would “capture the vision for Ralph’s legacy, but also respected the needs of the tenants as well.”

The city will issue a donation receipt to the owners for $8.325 million — the difference between the appraised value and the purchase price.



#709 dasmo

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Posted 10 January 2025 - 10:08 AM

Sometimes bad things gotta happen. Selling a property means the people living there gotta get kicked out. Buying their homes is fair. But it's not going to be a destination park and the land owner is not being charitable. It will be a great central courtyard for the residential towers that are slowly surrounding it. Expect bylaws that ban dogs.... 



#710 spanky123

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Posted 10 January 2025 - 10:10 AM

He has every right to sell it. I have every right to correct the narrative surrounding it. The headline could also be that he is selling it for $9,000,000 tax free because of a backroom deal with the city. He sells easy for $9,000,000 and get's a donation receipt for almost $9,00,000.  The tenants all get screwed in the middle of a housing crisis. Like they can move those homes. They aren't "trailers" and where can they move them to? 

 

Alternative was to sell to a developer who would have paid $18M and evicted everyone in 2 years for less compensation.


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#711 Mike K.

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Posted 10 January 2025 - 10:17 AM

He has every right to sell it. I have every right to correct the narrative surrounding it. The headline could also be that he is selling it for $9,000,000 tax free because of a backroom deal with the city. He sells easy for $9,000,000 and get's a donation receipt for almost $9,00,000. The tenants all get screwed in the middle of a housing crisis. Like they can move those homes. They aren't "trailers" and where can they move them to?


He could have sold it for $18 million, it’s appraised market value.

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#712 Mike K.

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Posted 10 January 2025 - 10:19 AM

Alternative was to sell to a developer who would have paid $18M and evicted everyone in 2 years for less compensation.


What is Langford doing for renters on this property? Their press release only mentioned compensating the owners of the mobile homes.

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#713 amor de cosmos

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Posted 10 January 2025 - 10:26 AM

tc again

The landowners are being paid in two equal instalments, according to the city; the first was paid on Jan. 8, and the second will be paid on June 8, 2026.0
 
Langford said it will budget up to $1 million a year to purchase homes as tenants are ready to move, and has hired a dedicated tenant liaison, James Ridge, to assist in the process.

Ridge, a Langford resident, said in a package delivered to residents that he will assist in providing resources to move units and sell them, and in connecting tenants with new housing options.

In addition to the $1 million for ­tenant supports between 2025 and 2029, the remainder of the purchase price, along with the future transformation of the urban park in 2030, will require a tax increase of about 1.75% in 2029, according to a city statement.

https://www.timescol...r-park-10054206

edit: & the bit about the councillor who "colluded" with the park owner (dasmo made me do it) & i suppose then we know where the opposition will come from

Stoerzer had already built a scale model of a park he envisioned for the site, but said he “lost confidence” in the previous council. He asked Harder if she could help him work with the city.


Edited by amor de cosmos, 10 January 2025 - 10:37 AM.


#714 LJ

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Posted 10 January 2025 - 07:39 PM

They should be building more mobile home parks, huge ones, on crown land and then sell the lots for a reasonable price. They are the definition of affordable housing.


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#715 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 14 January 2025 - 06:12 PM

The City of Langford says it requested that two RCMP officers monitor its council meeting on Monday following an “increase in inappropriate behaviour and conduct over the past year at council meetings.”

 

In a statement late Tuesday, the municipality told CHEK News that RCMP officers were requested to monitor the meeting to maintain safety as a precaution “aimed at ensuring the physical and psychological safety of staff and members of the public.”

 

The city added that during an in-camera meeting on Monday, council voted unanimously to ban one person from attending in-person council meetings for the next three months, effective immediately.

 

“This does not prevent the individual from attending via electronic means,” said the city.

 

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...s-city-1233892/


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 January 2025 - 06:12 PM.


#716 Mike K.

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Posted 14 January 2025 - 10:20 PM

I watched the council meeting yesterday. A bit of a snooze fest.

What were they worried about?

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#717 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 14 January 2025 - 11:35 PM

screenshot-x_com-2025_01_15-02_34_43.png



#718 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 14 January 2025 - 11:37 PM

Protest held Monday night

 

At Monday night’s council meeting, several dozen protesters gathered outside Langford city hall, some wearing T-shirts that read “resign” on them.

 

The protest came after B.C.’s privacy commissioner found that Langford council had breached privacy with the unauthorized disclosure of a Langford resident’s personal information.

 

screenshot-cheknews_ca-2025_01_15-02_37_58.png

 

The original complaint by Ed Court, filed in 2021, alleged that Coun. Lillian Szpak had obtained his personal information from city bylaw staff.

 

“She obviously had my information. She got that through city staff, the bylaw department. I’ve got lots of documents saying that,” Court told CHEK News.

 

The commissioner’s report also stated the city had taken satisfactory steps to resolve the matter – which included a training program for city staff and council that included privacy training.

 

Sandy Sifert, who organized Monday night’s rally, said that wasn’t enough.

 

“People have been fired for less than that. People have stepped down for less than that. She really needs to be held accountable for this,” Sifert said.

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...s-city-1233892/


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 January 2025 - 11:38 PM.


#719 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 05:38 AM

Langford council bans unnamed person from its meetings

 

The member of the public, who was not named, will be banned for a three-month period, effective immediately, a city spokesperson said.
 
 
 
 
 
 
That's a 40-paragraph TC article with lots of background, and they cannot tell us who the banned person is?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 January 2025 - 05:38 AM.


#720 Blair M.

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Posted 15 January 2025 - 06:26 AM

Do Canadian privacy laws legally discourage or prevent the general press from printing the persons name in cases where there's no legal charges or convictions pending?

 

Anyway, there are far more effective ways of getting traction, and pushing ones agenda at public meetings than violating Roberts Rules of Order.

It's also long understood that issuing veiled, general or personal threats towards Mayor, Council, or Civic Employees is guaranteed to get a person and their agenda absolutely nowhere but the boot from future meetings.


Edited by Blair M., 15 January 2025 - 06:27 AM.

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