Link to letter on the Times Colonist website
When city councillors ignore the planners
Re: “Proposed 17-storey James Bay tower deemed too high, sent back for redesign,” July 29.
My neighbours and I attended Victoria City Hall to observe the majority of council dismiss the planning department’s recommendation to decline a rezoning application for a 17-storey, 112-unit apartment complex on a parking lot at Kingston/Quebec/Montreal Streets in James Bay.
The location’s current zoning is R–K (missing middle style housing). The Official Community Plan (OCP)—created in 2012, with a vision 30 years into the future—suggests three to six storeys.
Instead, council opted to invite the developer to “take another kick at the can” (as Coun. Jeremy Caradonna said), and find a way to squeeze that same excessive density into a few less storeys.
Coun. Chris Coleman rationally pointed out that a more reasonable build of 80 suites would still be a huge gain. Once again, councillors Coleman, Marg Gardiner and Hammond seemed to be the voices of reason, defending the value of urban planning over spot zoning.
We left the meeting asking ourselves, why do some councillors have such avid inclination to dismiss the informed advice of city planners?
—Soressa Gardner, Victoria