Housing
Consultations History
While
higher-density development proponents claim that the community has been
consulted many times in the past 10 or so years, and that the community has
supported the proposed densities, it is worthwhile to look at the facts about those consultations to
get the full picture.
The Facts:
August, 2003: North Saanich adopts the
Regional Growth Strategy (RGS):
Including, (from page 31):
- Agreement to retain rural character and safeguard environmental quality.
- External demands for housing growth are not accommodated.
- NS chooses to be a Rural/Residential community with development to stay within designated capacity limits at this date.
- Reinforces the RGS goal of keeping urban settlement compact and protecting Rural Resource lands.
2003: Questionnaire is circulated to North Saanich
Households from Official Community Plan (OCP) Review Committee.
December
2003
– Review Committee reports to Council
390 responses received
- regarding long term development – 71% of responses supported retaining rural quality
- regarding housing:
· 5% (20 responses)
supported higher density
· 9% (36 responses)
supported addressing seniors’ needs (not necessarily higher density)
· 8% (33 responses)
multi-family
It should be noted that current
high-density proponents have characterized the above as “strong support for increased densities”.
In addition, 3% (12 responses)
wanted lower density – that is, no more increases.
2004 – Community Advisory
Committee established to consider vision statement and make recommendations to
Council; conducted several community
meetings and meetings to consider and assess results, reporting to Council in
November, 2004. Approximately 15
committee members facilitated by Cornerstone developed the visions. Council
adopted recommended visions in current OCP.
Note especially:
- Main/cornerstone vision: that North Saanich retain the present rural, agricultural and marine character. Removed reference to development so as not to weaken statements of North Saanich’s fundamental character.
- Vision 6 – That the District of North Saanich ensure that the long-term residential development of the community will retain the current neighborhoods while responding to the need for seniors and affordable family housing.
2004 –
2006
– ongoing consideration of OCP changes. Extensive community consultation, drafts of
OCP considered. Change of Council
December 2005 extended process.
June 13,
2006
– Council meeting to consider draft OCP at that date which included “village
centres”; these would allow high density at whim of Council. More
than 850 people attended, 58 spoke. Residents overwhelmingly opposed to
increased densities and village centres.
These provisions were removed and
the present OCP unanimously adopted in May 2007 with the current Regional
Context Statement.
September
2007
– Council conducted an Ipsos Reid Survey of residents.
- Most important concern expressed by residents: unplanned growth.
- Second most important concern: inadequate communication by municipality with residents.
December
2007
– Council commissioned a Housing Needs
Assessment, done by City Spaces, following OCP provisions to consider
policies for Seniors, Affordable, Special Needs housing.
Addressed Vision
Statements 6 and 8 of OCP.
No community consultation.
Identified affordability criteria and parameters in NS as
well as the need for policies.
Did not consider RGS nor Regional Affordable Housing
Strategy.
Sole basis for suggesting
that NS had insufficient housing choices was that it had fewer than many
communities of similar size.
No consideration of
symbiotic planning with Sidney.
June
2008
– Council hired City Spaces to conduct consultation on a housing strategy,
resulting in ten recommendations including secondary suites, and
cottage/caretaker houses.
- Recommendations 5, 6 and 7 were refused by Council of the day (this was at the end of Daly’s mayoralty).
- Recommendation no. 5 – smaller lots recommended on assumption that higher density would lower prices. Subsequent development didn’t support this assumption. (See Mills and West Saanich Road development, Cresswell development, condo at corner of McTavish and Lochside – all higher density without increased affordability.)
- Recommendation 6 and 7 were based on conditions that these higher densities be accepted only if consistent with RGS and further suggested policies for below-market component, rental component and workforce component. (It should be noted that although the consultant for CTQ Consultants, Mr. Grifone, was instructed in his 2012/2013 consultation to consider Recommendations 5,6 and 7 in his consultation, none of these conditions were addressed by Grifone.)
Council of
late 2008 refused these recommendations because of the inconsistency with the
new OCP and the RGS. The following Council (2008-2011) did not revive them for similar
reasons and because there was no community pressure to do so. The majority of that Council ran on the basis
of support for the OCP and RGS as well as planned development within those
contexts.
Mayor Finall’s concern with increasing densities was
part of her campaign in 2008 and she defeated incumbent-mayor Daly on this
basis by a margin of 430 votes, receiving the highest number of votes a mayor
has received in this municipality.
The present
Council majority revived these three recommendations out of the blue, with no
advance warning in campaigns.
2012 –
2013:
Grifone (CTQ) consultation – Consultant was instructed to do a review of where
higher density might be considered if residents
supported this. The deficiencies of this consultation have been reviewed, but
it does refer often and consistently to the need for affordable housing. This
consultation did not address the NS role in RGS. In August, 2013, pro-development Council
majority walked out of meeting where the consultant was available to answer
questions about his recommendations, denying quorum and ending the only
opportunity for Council and residents to ask him for details and rationale for
his recommendations. Though he has been
asked, he has not:
Furnished
any raw data or lists of who was consulted;
Made
himself available to answer any questions that Council or residents may have.
There has
been no community consultation about the recommendations. Council adopts report and begins to implement
recommendations.
North
Saanich Residents Association (NSRA) Survey (2013) -- available to all
community members to complete, continues to show majority support for present
OCP and levels of density.
Summary:
Councils have listened to residents
through the years and responded with the current OCP. As the above information shows, the
suggestion that there have been many consultations demanding higher densities
which have been ignored is simply a fiction.
As to the current pressure for
increasing residential densities, and the two areas where urbanization is
planned, residents have not been consulted at all on these specifics and
efforts to have that consultation have been refused.