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  1. THE WOODSY SOUTH END of Elk/Beaver Lake Park might soon look more like Beacon Hill Park: lined by a wall of apartments. Mike Geric Construction has proposed erecting two condo buildings right on the edge of the regional park, one five storeys tall, and a much larger V-shaped one around it stepping up to 11 storeys tall, providing views of the park to the north, and the Olympic mountains to the south. The project, named Doral Forest Park, would have 242 units in total. The developer says 43 would be sold at 15 percent below appraised value, and would remain affordable housing “in perpetuity,” subject to an agreement with the Capital Regional Housing Corporation. The Royal Oak Community Association has opposed the project. In an April 2020 letter to the District of Saanich, ROCA said the land remains subject to a registered covenant that protects certain environmental conditions, and limits multi-family density to a floor-space ratio of 0.84 and a maximum of 98 units. (ROCA said it could support a development of that size.) In October of 2020, ROCA also wrote to Saanich, arguing that the 184 underground parking stalls proposed will be insufficient because the site is too far from shopping or transit to walk. (It’s 700 metres steeply uphill from the Royal Oak transit hub, and about 1.2 km from the Broadmead shopping plaza.) ROCA also complained about a lack of meaningful community-amenity contributions in the proposal, and the risk of groundwater damage to neighbouring condos. In December of 2020, Saanich Council voted 7-2 to send the project to a public hearing, even though a staff report said its height, scale and massing was “out of context with surrounding development.” A date for the public hearing hasn’t been announced.
  2. YOU'D THINK IT HARD TO FIT a six-storey apartment building plus eight townhouses on a single-family lot, but that’s what Aryze Developments has proposed for this site, at the corner of Normandy Road and Elk Lake Drive. Aryze hopes Saanich will rezone the 2,910 square-metre lot, currently occupied by one rundown house built in 1956, from single-family to mixed-residential. Aryze says the location is appropriate for significant density, as it’s immediately south of the Saanich Commonwealth Place recreation centre and pool, next to a major transit exchange, and about 500 metres from the Broadmead shopping plaza, on the other side of the Pat Bay Highway. Under the proposal, 15 of its 65 rental units would be “affordable.” Neighbours have organized petition drives against the project, fearing it would become a “gateway” to further development along Normandy, which is currently lined with single-family homes. In November of 2020, the Royal Oak Community Association said the developer had not met with them despite repeated requests, and they were still waiting to see a traffic-impact report. ROCA argues the development is too close to the busy intersection of Elk Lake Drive and Royal Oak Drive, which would need an upgrade to accommodate new traffic. ROCA also says Aryze’s proposal only has 36 parking spots, making it likely that Saanich Commonwealth Place next door will effectively become the development’s parking lot. ROCA says the proposal is three times the permitted density and height currently in Saanich’s official community plan. Saanich Council reviewed the proposal in December 2020 and sent it back to the applicant for revisions. Aryze has said it will likely return with a four-storey proposal with fewer affordable units.
  3. City divides community over car use on Clover Point FEBRUARY PROVED BLUSTERY for the city’s Clover Point and the community that loves it. For the past two years it has been a construction site for a pumping station for the region’s new sewage treatment system. The City’s park’s department recently (it seemed) decided it wanted to reconfigure the public areas as well. The initial proposal for Clover Point park/parking area was presented to City of Victoria council on February 11 by Thomas Soulliere, director of parks, recreation and facilities. It recommended permanently closing the loop on Clover Point to cars and creating a small parking lot towards Dallas with 17 spaces—resulting in a net loss of 73 parking spaces in the 4.2 hectare park. The motivation seemed to be the Parks department's desire to “complete a continuous pedestrian waterfront route for the breakwater at Ogden Point to Ross Bay beach access at Memorial Crescent.” Environmental concerns were also cited as the area is part of the Victoria Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary. A decision was needed very soon, council was told, in order to have the work coincide with the last phase of construction work on the pump station. The car-free loop area would be full of picnic tables, benches, lounge chairs, public art, orca sculptures and painted asphalt. But seniors, people and families with disability issues decried the idea of losing vehicle access. Longtime residents, through social and traditional media, relayed their fond memories of visiting the point to watch the waves on stormy days from the warmth of their vehicles, take an elder to an oceanside tea, or load up their mobility-challenged kids for a family outing. A Times Colonist editorial termed the proposal to deny car access to the Point “insultingly dismissive of a large proportion of the population,” who “don’t count as much as the younger, healthier, less-inconvenient people in the City’s vision of an urban utopia.” Citizens also condemned the top-down, hasty decision-making. Given that the sewage treatment construction has been going on for a couple of years (and the planning around it much much longer), it is hard to imagine why the public had not been more purposefully engaged sooner on design options for Clover Point. In deference to the public outcry, City council asked Parks staff to come up with another option. In total, three options were issued on February 18. One was as outlined above with minor tweaks; the second allowed for 14 stalls and a drop-off/turnaround at water’s edge on the east side of the loop (8 regular and 6 accessible spaces), with 11 more up top. A third option, the staff report noted, would be to leave the loop as it is with full vehicle access until a long-term plan for the park is developed. As the report stated, “This approach would provide future opportunities for public engagement on all potential changes, including those relating to transportation and parking.” At the council meeting on February 25, all council members except for Charlayne Thornton-Joe (who was in favour of more car access towards the west), approved the second option. (Stephen Andrew voted against it as well on the March 4 ratification.) Councillor Geoff Young got an amendment approved eliminating pavement painting beyond that necessary for marking bike and walking lanes (initial designs included more fanciful illustrations and games). This option was projected to cost $275,000, though reduced somewhat by amendments for less painted asphalt and furniture. With 25 parking spots, it means a loss of 65 from the 90 on offer for the past 60 or so years. Is this a good thing in a growing city (one in which all forms of transportation are increasing along with the population)? Time will tell. Despite the rush by City staff and council to make the decision, it now seems that this is just an interim design and that the public will be consulted after all, at some point. Meanwhile, feel free to comment here.
  4. INITIALLY, the developer, Design Build Services proposed two 12-storey buildings, one fronting on to Goldstream and the other onto Fairway, with all access from Fairway. Community members in the mostly single family neighbourhood objected strenuously through a petition and letters to council. By the time the proposal reached Langford’s Planning, Zoning and Affordable Housing Committee in January 2020, the proposal was for 9- and 6-storey buildings and, by the end of the meeting, Design Build Services, agreed to two 6-storey buildings. Artist’s rendering of Design Build Services’ proposal The Fairway Neighbours Unite for a Liveable Langford group is still pushing for 4-storey buildings, a sidewalk along the entire length of Fairway, instead of only in front of the development, and an entrance/exit on Goldstream—something Fairway residents are adamant is needed to prevent the quiet street from becoming a busy thoroughfare. The developer, Design Build Services, is the same company that developed Danbrook One, a 90-unit Langford highrise that was evacuated a year ago after being deemed unsafe. Early in February, Fairway Neighbours Unite condemned the removal of houses on Fairway before the required zoning change had been approved, though the City of Langford has already signalled it is expanding the “City Centre” zone to include the area. On February 16, the proposal for two six-storey buildings passed First Reading at council; it expected to head to public hearing in March. Resident Chris Peterson told Focus: “We understand development will happen and accept that, but, when everything around you is three or four storeys and council says it doesn’t see a problem with a new 6- or 12-storey building blotting out your access to sunlight or the total loss of privacy at your family dwelling, then it is time to ask what gives,” he said, adding, “Council always has time for developers, but, if you are a private citizen, complaining about a proposal, council is quick to let you know they don’t care or your complaint isn’t relevant to the proposal.” The Goldstream/Fairway proposal and similar developments moving into what have been single-family neighbourhoods are causing more dissent than Langford council has witnessed in the past, including around wider issues such as lack of transparency and timely information. Langford, for instance, still does not livestream council meetings or make the video available to the public, despite receiving a $4.8-million COVID-19 Safe Restart Grant from the Province. It does do audio recordings which the Fairfield neighbourhood says are poor quality. See Judith Lavoie’s Focus report on “Strains over growth and transparency in Langford.”
  5. LARGE AND CO, the owner of this Dunsmuir Road heritage house, has applied for a demolition permit and rezoning to allow for a 9-unit townhouse complex on the 12,400-square-foot lot. Called Tyn-Y-Coed, the house was commissioned by Hans Price, a clerk at the naval dockyard, and designed by John Tiarks, who later worked with renown architect Francis Rattenbury and served as a Victoria councillor. Large and Co purchased the property three and a half years ago, intending to restore the house and add density around it. But they told the Times Colonist that proved infeasible due to costs of $800,000 for a “proper restoration.” Photo of Tyn-Y-Coed from the Dam Report Esquimalt Council commissioned a report on the state of the house from John Dam and Associates. That report, released last November, concluded: “Considering its age, exposure, and lack of maintenance work, Tyn-Y-Coed is in fair condition. The intact, original detailing of this historic building as well as the people involved with its design and construction, give it value to the Township of Esquimalt.” Intact heritage features include staircases, stained glass windows, parquet flooring, wainscotting and doorways. The report did state that approximately $280,000 in repairs, mostly to the foundation and roof, were needed. In December 2020, Esquimalt council directed its staff to continue working with Large and Co to see if a solution could be found that would preserve the house. The Board of the West Bay Residents Association has written in support of preservation: “Historic homes like Tyn-Y-Coed are important as they provide tangible connections to our past by representing the stories and the events that helped to shape the community. Retaining our historical identity…reinforces our sense of place, our special and unique character that differentiates us from other places. These historic structures are municipal assets and their rehabilitation and adaptive repurposing stand to generate a wide range of social, economic and environmental benefits.” The Hallmark Society has also come out in favour of saving the house. The 2021 property assessment on 820 Dunsmuir illustrates some of the confounding obstacles confronting heritage preservation. While the property is currently assessed at just over $1 million, the building is assessed at only $700, despite its fair condition. An online search shows it was sold for $700,000 in April 2017, so that’s likely the Large and Co purchase price. If council grants demolition and rezoning (from RD-3 to CD Zone) the land value, as well as that of similar properties, will likely increase substantially.
  6. Image: Artist's rendering of the development proposed for 902 Foul Bay Road Aryze Developments Inc is proposing an 18-unit, 3-storey townhouse development for a half-acre lot that has the neighbourhood pushing back, hard. Go to story
  7. DENCITI DEVELOPMENT CORP has assembled nine Downtown lots and hopes to build a five-storey 274‐unit market rental building with ground floor commercial space fronting Chatham, Government and Herald Streets. It will contain suites ranging in size from 334 square feet to 842 square feet; 143 or 52 percent are studio units; 87 units (32 percent) 1-bedroom, and 44 (16 percent ) 2-bedroom. Its development application went to the City in September 2020. In a December 2020 letter to City council, the Downtown Residents Association stated: “The DRA [Land Use Committee] encourages Council to fully support the City of Victoria’s Old Town Design Guidelines and requests this proposal be reconfigured so that it is not at odds with the historic architectural rhythm that makes Chinatown a National Historic Site. In our opinion, it is not compliant with existing policy nor would it be in the public interest for this application to be approved in its current form.” Site coverage of 73 percent is proposed. Besides expressing concern about the height variance required, the DRA noted: “The sheer size of this proposal with its extremely long, and repetitive facade is out of context with the typical rhythm of historic development in Old Town and particularly the Chinatown local area and is offside with the recently updated Old Town Design Guidelines.” Return to Development and Architecture
  8. ANNOUNCED IN JUNE 2020 as the winning proposal for the City-owned “Apex Lot” on Douglas Street at Humboldt, Telus proposes to build an 11-storey largely glass-clad office building complex. It will become the telecommunication company’s regional headquarters, housing about 250 Telus employees on two floors with other floors leased, as well as making two uppermost levels available to local groups and organizations for community events. A rooftop space on what will technically be the 11th floor will also be available as an amenity. Underground parking for 127 cars and the same number of bicycles will be provided. Construction could begin as early as summer 2021, with a completion date of 2024. Touted as the Capital’s most environmentally sustainable construction project, it will meet or exceed Step 2 of the BC Energy Step Code, employ low carbon, passive design and energy recovery systems, as well as harvest and recycle rainwater. Recent revisions to the design, after some City staff feedback, include reducing the glazed surfaces in order to reduce glare, bird collisions and heat loss. It has also repositioned the Telus logo from the apex of the building to just above street level. Neighbours in nearby buildings have expressed concerns around privacy, so the additional opaque panels may address some of those complaints. Others have complained that the building is not iconic enough, partly because the City of Victoria requested the building not be visible behind the Empress from the Inner Harbour, thereby significantly limiting its height. Telus purchased the property for $8.1 million, plus up to $1.1 million price adjustment depending on final proposal approved during rezoning process. The City will contribute $2.37 million (half of the budgeted total) for environmental and geotechnical costs to remediate the site. Telus will assume all liability for this work. Luke Mari of Aryze Developments, which is acting as Telus’ community development partner, has said the triangular shape of the 28,000 square foot lot, Telus’s exacting standards for environmental performance and high-end materials, the close proximity of existing buildings, and the fact the land is contaminated fill (it was created in the early 1900s during the infilling of James Bay), make for a challenging, complex project. Return to Development and Architecture
  9. ARYZE DEVELOPMENTS INC. is planning to build an 18-unit, 3-storey townhouse complex on Foul Bay Road at Quamichan. The 22,000-square-foot well-treed site was formerly occupied by a large 1911 heritage house that burned down in late 2016. Zoned for single-family housing, it is also a heritage-designated site, meaning the developer requires both rezoning and a heritage alteration permit. Aryze proposes to remove 29 trees in total, including 19 protected under the City’s tree bylaw; they are retaining 12 trees and planting more. A neighbourhood group has formed in opposition, particularly to the tree destruction. As stated on the group’s website: “The mature trees are not only beautiful—they play a significant role in climate change by sequestering carbon, storing water during heavy rain events, and cooling the earth. They also provide food and housing for countless birds, mammals, and pollinators.” The same group is raising funds towards legal costs to fight Aryze’s petition to remove an existing restrictive covenant dating back to 1917 that would limit the site to no more than four residences. Other controversial features include the limited onsite parking (16 stalls) which, neighbours believe, will impose street congestion and hazardous traffic flow on a currently safe, pedestrian-friendly street.” They also question the project being marketed as “affordable housing” given that the minimum combined family income required to qualify is likely over $160,000. (Aryze hopes to use the BC Housing Affordable Homeownership Program whereby homes are sold below market value—with the discounted amount used as the downpayment. The mostly three-bedroom units, even after deductions, would be over $700,000 according to the developer.) At a December 17, 2020 meeting of the Land Use Committee meeting of the Fairfield Gonzales Community Association—the second public meeting about the property—67 percent (16 of 24) of attendees opposed the development, mostly on the grounds of it being too dense, too high, causing too many trees to be eliminated, and traffic concerns. See a longer Focus report by Russ Francis on this development here. Return to Development and Architecture
  10. J. GORDON JONES ENTERPRISES is proposing a development for the Harris Green neighbourhood. It is only six storeys but covers 89 percent of the 21,700-square-foot-lot at the corner of Vancouver and View Street, the site of a former bottling recycling depot. The developers, in late 2019, proposed to create 154 purpose-built rental units (and 41 parking stalls) aimed at tenants looking to live and work near the Downtown core. Units would range from 320 square feet to some 3-bedrooms at 900 square feet. It would use woodframe construction above ground. Incorporating Green Building features, it aims at BC Energy Step Code 3. The Downtown Residents Association hosted two public meetings and reported some of the questions and concerns raised in two January 2020 letters to Council. These concerned massing, parking, greenspace (lack thereof), the amount of space between the proposed and existing buildings, and the developer’s understanding of “affordable.” “Attendees described the building as a box with bland and repetitive facade. The lack of balconies is also seen as problematic,” stated one letter. The proposal seems to have stalled for the past year, though it is still “active” on the City’s Development Tracker. Return to Development and Architecture
  11. SAKURA DEVELOPMENTS proposes to build a 15-storey, 129-unit strata building at 1150 Cook and View Streets, consisting of mostly one-bedroom condos. Among other reasons, rezoning is required for the height as it currently allows only 10 storeys. The Downtown Residents Association in a September 2020 letter to City council noted that “The proposed density for 1150 Cook is 7.78:1 while the Official Community Plan maximum is 5.5:1. The R‐48 zone does not state a specific density entitlement and instead staff have adopted a highly debatable calculation to interpret and justify ‘as of right’ densities. If the R48 zoning bylaw does not specifically state a density entitlement, why isn’t an OCP amendment required for this proposal?” It also pointed out that “The City of Vancouver does not allow anything approaching these densities in urban residential areas and neither should Victoria.” In its letter the DRA also expressed concerns around limited parking: “There are 41 parking spaces proposed for 129 market condo units. There are commercial units proposed within this project and yet no commercial parking spots are being provided. There is no parking for moving trucks, delivery vehicles or guest parking and both short term and long term street parking are typically at a premium already in our neighbourhood and with all the COVID deliveries, it is even worse. “ Its letter concluded: “This application facilitates the undermining of our core planning documents. It is high time for Council to support liveability Downtown and support the principles enshrined in the City’s core planning documents. As of December 2020, staff were reviewing some revisions, but the controversial 15 storeys and 41 parking stalls remained. Return to Development and Architecture
  12. IN APRIL 2018, NVision Properties initially proposed a 9-storey purpose-built rental complex with ground floor retail space along at 1010 Fort Street in downtown Victoria’s Harris Green neighbourhood. It provided for 55 units with 10 affordable ones and zero parking. Complaints about density, set backs (lack thereof) and parking were heard and City council rejected the application in October 2018. The developer returned with a building of slightly less density and 7 parking stalls, but building height increased to 13 storeys. The staff report from June 2020 noted, “the subject site is not suitable for a taller building due to its size and context.” It also stated the proposal lacked a cohesive design and failed to enhance Fort Street through “high-quality architecture, landscape and urban design responsive to its historic context through sensitive and innovative interventions.” Staff recommended land assembly with adjacent properties to enable the best realization of development potential for the site. The Downtown Residents Association’s Land Use Committee stated in a June 2020 letter to the City that, “While a land assembly would improve the development potential for this site, the building form and character as submitted would still not respond to the context of the Fort Street Heritage Corridor. As stated in the OCP (DPA 7B Corridors Heritage) the designation includes the objective of ‘high quality architecture, landscape and urban design responsive to its historic context through sensitive and innovative interventions’. The evolution of this application highlights the deficiencies in policy to ensure sensitive integration of new development along the Fort Street Heritage Corridor. This application reminds us of the imperative to complete the update to the Downtown Core Area Plan in a timely manner.” At the June 25, 2020 meeting of the Committee of the Whole, council voted unanimously to decline moving the proposal to public hearing. It might be back in some revised form. According to one news report, the developer will likely build a four-story market condominium that would fit with existing zoning. Return to Development and Architecture
  13. THE CALEDONIA will offer 158 units of affordable non-market rental housing on a long rectangle of land behind Vic High, from Gladstone to Grant Street. The developer—in this case the CRD’s Capital Region Housing Corporation (CRHC)—is requesting rezoning and Official Community Plan (OCP) amendments for land they are leasing for 60 years from School District 61. In total there are five separate buildings, including three-storey townhouse rows, and four- and five-storey apartment buildings, with 117 parking stalls. Residents will be selected from a waitlist at the Capital Region Housing Corporation. The CRD has been operating an 18-unit townhouse complex for families on a good part of the site. Only 29 years old (built in 1992), the CRD has said needed repairs would be very costly. Many in the neighbourhood are concerned with the Caledonia’s size, the impacts on the neighbourhood’s traffic, the precedent it will set for further development, and the loss of School District-owned land. In regard to the latter, complaints around the School District’s willingness to sacrifice a long-planned track expansion for Vic High to accommodate the development have been heard in letters and comment pieces. For more information, see a November 2019 Focus story and a comment piece on the related reduction of the high school track. Return to Development and Architecture
  14. CHARD DEVELOPMENT is proposing the City’s first purpose‐built hotel since 2004 along Broad Street to the corner of Johnson in Old Town. It would preserve the front of one of the historic buildings on the site, the Duck’s Building, built in 1874 at 1330 Broad Street. It would also add a floor ontop of it and gut the interior. And it would demolish the 1892 former Canada Hotel at 615-625 Johnson, also on the City’s heritage registry and on the national registry of historic places. Another building would be constructed at the south end of the Duck’s Building where a parking lot now exists. Both rezoning and Heritage Alteration Permits are required to proceed. This properties are owned by the University of Victoria, a legacy from Michael Williams, a local developer, heritage conservationist and philanthropist. The development of a hotel on the site allows UVic—by way of a 99‐year land lease—to obtain annual income and retain ownership of the land. If approved, this development will bring 139 hotel rooms with supporting retail to Victoria’s Old Town District. Initially Chard and UVic proposed to offer 60 units of student housing as well as approximately 100 condos in the development, but shifted focus in late 2019. The latest revisions for the hotel proposal were received by the City in February 2020, just in advance of the pandemic’s crushing pressure on the hotel industry. The proposed demolition of the Canada Hotel is not looked upon favourably by many. Former City councillor and long-time heritage advocate Pamela Madoff told CBC: “The demolition of that building would be the first time a building with such heritage credentials would have been considered for demolition and nothing like this has happened in Old Town since the 1980s.” Chard has argued that (unlike the Duck’s Building), the Canada Hotel had serious structural problems and no remaining heritage value other than one wall which will be preserved. After the latest plans were submitted last February 2020, the Downtown Residents Association (DRA) wrote the City. Though not opposed to the use of the property as a hotel, it relayed concerns around the demolition of one building and the “facadism” applied to the Duck’s Building: “The Heritage Conservation strategy for this application is based solely on the retention of the front and rear facades and some token materials recovered from the interior of the Duck Building. Contrary to the Staff assertion that this proposal is “generally consistent” with the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada…the façadism proposed for this application is not recognized as an acceptable heritage conservation strategy by the National Standards or by most heritage professionals and experts.” The DRA also expressed opposition to the developer’s request for a relaxation in height from the recommended maximum to allow an additional sixth storey. “The increase in density supported by staff above OCP maximums for a heritage conservation strategy (which is not supported by the national standards) appears overgenerous to say the least. On one hand, the applicant is offering the cheapest, easiest and unrecognized form of heritage retention while being rewarded with a very significant density bump.” Read the DRA letter here. A September 2018 Focus story on the original proposal is here. Return to Development and Architecture
  15. RELIANCE PROPERTIES has been trying to redevelop this prime 15,000-square-foot lot at 1314 & 1318 Wharf Street overlooking the Inner Harbour by the Johnson Street Bridge for over 10 years now. On it are two heritage buildings, warehouses dating back to 1860, which must be preserved. The latest versions of the proposal call for a mixed commercial and residential building with 5 storeys, with the two heritage structures functioning as the ground floor. There will be 47 rental units, with a green roof, and rooftop patios. The developer offered to sign a Housing Agreement to secure all 47 units as rental in perpetuity. Units range in size from approximately 410 to 1100 square feet. Heritage advocates such as Pam Madoff and Steve Barber have objected to many of the iterations of Reliance’s proposal because of what they see as a lack of respectful treatment of the two heritage buildings. As one commenter stated at a public meeting: “The existing buildings, among the oldest in the city, are to be swallowed up by new 5-storey structures, leaving little of the waterfront flavour of the 1860s to remind us of their significance.” The Downtown Residents Association wrote to City council noting that the development does not meet Old Town Design Guidelines which clearly state “Make new rooftop additions subordinate to the historic building” and that “Rooftop additions should be smaller in scale than the building they are connected to.” On September 17, 2020, after some tweaking by Reliance to its June 2020 submission (which was declined) to make the heritage structures more prominent (though still having five new storeys above them), council instructed staff to prepare the Zoning Regulation Bylaw Amendment that would authorize the proposed development. A Public Hearing will be scheduled, once various conditions regarding frontage works, building access and bike parking are met. Return to Development and Architecture
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