Link to letter on the Times Colonist website
Revisions won’t help with this development
The owners of the Admiral Inn, at 257 Belleville St., have once again requested another development permit with variances from the city.
They are requesting two metres of additional height along with an increased site coverage.
Upon looking at the plans, they are using the park land adjacent to their proposed building as their visual “green space.”
This land does not belong to them but to the Laurel Point condos next door. There is zero clearance setback along the property line.
The request also asks for the minimum open site space to be reduced from 40 per cent to 28 per cent. As it is, the building sits almost entirely along the Pendray Street sidewalk.
This project is already too massive for the site and any extra height request could be accommodated by reducing the ceiling heights of the floors from 11 feet to 10 feet.
While it is inevitable that a development will occur, the disruption to the Belleville corridor will be massive due to the terminal redevelopment project underway. It has already impacted the traffic safety at this corner.
I am concerned that the city council will be swayed to approve this request based on the planned revision of amenities.
Council should consider the effect such an expanded building would have on its neighbours and an area of Victoria that is an important part of our attraction for tourists.
—Judy Gaudreau, Victoria