August 26th Newsletter
A Myth promoted by Developers is:
“Growth is inevitable – You must keep growing because it can’t be controlled. Besides it’s beneficial to a municipality to keep on growing and growing”.
In reality, Oak Bay is Oak Bay because it has controlled its growth. Oak Bay was incorporated in 1905 because of the growth caused by the new tram lines (not cars), and thus its growth pattern was more like an English Village than like a modern suburban sprawl supported by fast roads and big box stores. Oak Bay currently has a healthy housing mix of three fifths single-family, two fifths multi-family.
The “growth inevitability Myth” implies:
- That we have lost control of growth and are helpless to stop it.
- That this is the way it is and we must accept it no matter what our objections are.
- That we must agree to whatever growth plan is put before us.
Much of this is not true!!!. We still have the ability to set responsible policies and regulations that will prevent undesirable kinds of growth. Recently many new developments in Oak Bay have shown that our bylaws are not strong enough to prevent the occurrence of wholesale, maximum- profit development. The current trends of particle board construction, demolitions, over-developed lots, blasting and clearcutting all illustrate this. Densification through crass development impacts our quality of life, impacts our infrastructure and impacts the physical limitations of our environment.
Council and the development community have presented the scenario of a densified and self-reliant Oak Bay even though this is clearly irrational. We are a bedroom community; local shopping and entertainment are limited, very few residents work here, very few cycle or ride public transit to work and given our proximity to a major city - this will not change – despite well meaning efforts and initiatives to get residents out of their cars. All the evidence supports these facts but somehow this reasoning has escaped most Council members.
Given the stability in size and demographics of our community, we must question what additional amenities will be required to support an increased population. The economics of building and expanding new facilities is not trivial. Other municipalities have introduced user fees to limit access but this restricts those with lower incomes or young families. What will be the costs of additional fire, security, safety, traffic control and parking and who will bear them? What are the tax implications? Shouldn’t existing residents be informed of the costs before any changes are approved?
Council seems to be moving ahead with closed meetings, developer workshops and the creation of persuasive marketing literature without first informing the Community of the fundamental facts and the projected costs. Residents must have early access to these facts if they are to express informed opinions at public meetings.
A Myth promoted by Developers is:
“Growth is inevitable – You must keep growing because it can’t be controlled. Besides it’s beneficial to a municipality to keep on growing and growing”.
In reality, Oak Bay is Oak Bay because it has controlled its growth. Oak Bay was incorporated in 1905 because of the growth caused by the new tram lines (not cars), and thus its growth pattern was more like an English Village than like a modern suburban sprawl supported by fast roads and big box stores. Oak Bay currently has a healthy housing mix of three fifths single-family, two fifths multi-family.
The “growth inevitability Myth” implies:
- That we have lost control of growth and are helpless to stop it.
- That this is the way it is and we must accept it no matter what our objections are.
- That we must agree to whatever growth plan is put before us.
Much of this is not true!!!. We still have the ability to set responsible policies and regulations that will prevent undesirable kinds of growth. Recently many new developments in Oak Bay have shown that our bylaws are not strong enough to prevent the occurrence of wholesale, maximum- profit development. The current trends of particle board construction, demolitions, over-developed lots, blasting and clearcutting all illustrate this. Densification through crass development impacts our quality of life, impacts our infrastructure and impacts the physical limitations of our environment.
Council and the development community have presented the scenario of a densified and self-reliant Oak Bay even though this is clearly irrational. We are a bedroom community; local shopping and entertainment are limited, very few residents work here, very few cycle or ride public transit to work and given our proximity to a major city - this will not change – despite well meaning efforts and initiatives to get residents out of their cars. All the evidence supports these facts but somehow this reasoning has escaped most Council members.
Given the stability in size and demographics of our community, we must question what additional amenities will be required to support an increased population. The economics of building and expanding new facilities is not trivial. Other municipalities have introduced user fees to limit access but this restricts those with lower incomes or young families. What will be the costs of additional fire, security, safety, traffic control and parking and who will bear them? What are the tax implications? Shouldn’t existing residents be informed of the costs before any changes are approved?
Council seems to be moving ahead with closed meetings, developer workshops and the creation of persuasive marketing literature without first informing the Community of the fundamental facts and the projected costs. Residents must have early access to these facts if they are to express informed opinions at public meetings.