Link to letter on the Times Colonist website
No monster towers in quiet neighbourhoods
Re: “Proposed 17-storey James Bay tower deemed too high, sent back for redesign,” July 29.
What a delight it was to read that Victoria council has vetoed the 17-storey monstrosity proposed for James Bay.
I shook my head in disbelief at the news since we have all been convinced that there is nothing we can do to stop yet another incursion into our quiet neighbourhood.
James Bay was meant to be an enclave of “human proportions”—of buildings of no more than six storeys on green, leafy and mostly quiet streets.
As Coun. Stephen Hammond pointed out: “James Bay is already punching over its weight for density” and 112 units on the already busy Quebec and Kingston corridor toward Dallas Road would be disastrous.
Surely an attractive row of townhomes like some that have recently risen in the area would provide enough density as well as profit for the developer while retaining the human proportions of a city we can enjoy living in?
So bravo to council for thinking of the future. Build up your density in the high rise areas of downtown and by doubling up on larger city lots, not by throwing up monster towers into quiet family neighbourhoods.
—Mari Peepre, James Bay