Letter sent to the District of Saanich, Planning Dept.
June 26, 2017
F.A.O.: Mr. Chuck Bell
Planner
District of Saanich
Dear Mr. Bell:
Re:
Folder DPR00660-REZ00578 – Development Application 2590, 2594 & 2598 Penrhyn Street, Referral
#2
The Cadboro Bay
Residents’ Association, on behalf of the members of the Association, does not
support this project as outlined in this latest referral.
The application is
only slightly revised from the previous application. Referral #2 continues to ignore widely held
concerns about height, setbacks, green space and other issues contained in last
year’s community survey. Please refer to
our letter of October 14, 2016 attached.
The issues identified therein still apply.
Recently, residents
of the ‘Element’ condo building next door to the proposed development have
expressed their concerns to us, including blockage of air, light and views and
the removal of many trees. These are new
residents to Cadboro Bay and did not participate in the original community
survey. The Executive of the Strata note
that “Our building, Element, which is
zoned commercial and multi-use, has had problems with drainage. We very much fear back up and flooding will
be compounded if the proposed number of units is built across the three lots.”
We have received many
reports from affected neighbours that the developer/owner of this project or
their representatives have not engaged with them. Letters to the applicant and questions raised
at the applicant’s presentations to our association have been left unanswered.
A recent review of
the proposal by the Advisory Design Panel has confirmed our concerns about the
setbacks and landscape plans.
In addition,
during our request for an environmental and social review, it was confirmed
that construction in this area is known to be challenging from a geotechnical
perspective.
Traffic remains a
serious problem. The proposed 14 units would add at least 22 more vehicles to a
quiet cul-de-sac used by pedestrians walking to Gyro Park.
In spite of the
fact that this is a 2nd referral, we have not been provided with the results of
the internal referrals from the Parks and Development Services
Departments. Please provide us with
copies of same.
In summary, our
position is that the proposed development is excessively large for the site in
question and doesn’t fit with its location close to Cadboro Gyro park. We
would consider supporting a much smaller multi-unit housing development that blends
into the neighbourhood.
We request that
Saanich send this application back to the drawing board to address our
community’s concerns.
Yours truly,
EricDahli, Chair,
Cadboro Bay Residents Association
Cc: CBRA board
