Important Message to Subscribers and Website Visitors.
On July 18, 2022 Oak Bay Council approved the Zoning Bylaw changes THEY INTEND TO ENACT. The Bylaw changes will permit a multi-tenant suite in any single-family home in Oak Bay.
In order to enact this legislation Council must first bring THEIR single-family densification initiative to a public meeting. Council has scheduled the Public Meeting for Thursday Sept 8, 2022. Approximately a month before the October 2022 local government election this is the very last month in their four-year term.
The secondary suite zoning bylaw changes also include a limited number of conditions that will be expensive to administer, and with so many loopholes, difficult to enforce. Almost all of Council’s secondary suite information provided to the public has been from a “PRO-SECONDARY SUITE ANGLE”.
Very little of the information provided to the public was evidence-based, and the District’s public engagement process and, would not meet any fairness standard. Most of the added administrative costs and outcomes of Council’s secondary suite densification initiative will be borne by existing taxpayers, However, this will benefit only a small minority of residents, the Development, Investor and Real Estate Industries, and Council’s selected stakeholders.
The bottom line is there will be no to benefit the majority of Oak Bay’s residents, and it will have far-reaching negative community impacts. Some of these include: many more illegal suites (fire and safety issues); higher property taxes (basement suites provide no additional revenue for the required municipal services and administration); much more street parking (a safety issue and streetscape character change); and much more commuter traffic. The impact of multi-tenant suites will also:
If this Council stays true to form (which is almost certain) and follows the last two Councils public meeting decisions, they will “rubber stamp” the basement suite decisions they have approved without public regard. Oak Bay will then see a radical unwanted transformation.
The Final Secondary Suite Staff Report States: “The OCP policy directive was to explore “how” secondary suites could be regulated in Oak Bay, rather than “if” secondary suites should even be permitted. Notwithstanding the 2010 Secondary Suite Report and Survey OCP Process and Survey were highly criticized by the community, this statement is MISLEADING AND DECEPTIVE.
This is not at all what the Official Community Plan states. Its number one policy objective states, “Support a modest expansion of housing within Oak Bay while addressing concerns such as tree protection, parking, traffic, noise, effects on other properties and neighbourhhod character.”
While it is a stretch to say this new suite legislation will be a “modest expansion of housing”, when the above significant impacts are added to this list, to date, none of the harmful impacts have been adequately addressed.
Oak Bay Watch will be providing a series of Newsletters that will provide residents with all the information and evidence required to understand exactly what the Council’s radical community-change, basement suite decisions will result in and how the general community’s public interest has been disregarded.
On July 18, 2022 Oak Bay Council approved the Zoning Bylaw changes THEY INTEND TO ENACT. The Bylaw changes will permit a multi-tenant suite in any single-family home in Oak Bay.
In order to enact this legislation Council must first bring THEIR single-family densification initiative to a public meeting. Council has scheduled the Public Meeting for Thursday Sept 8, 2022. Approximately a month before the October 2022 local government election this is the very last month in their four-year term.
The secondary suite zoning bylaw changes also include a limited number of conditions that will be expensive to administer, and with so many loopholes, difficult to enforce. Almost all of Council’s secondary suite information provided to the public has been from a “PRO-SECONDARY SUITE ANGLE”.
Very little of the information provided to the public was evidence-based, and the District’s public engagement process and, would not meet any fairness standard. Most of the added administrative costs and outcomes of Council’s secondary suite densification initiative will be borne by existing taxpayers, However, this will benefit only a small minority of residents, the Development, Investor and Real Estate Industries, and Council’s selected stakeholders.
The bottom line is there will be no to benefit the majority of Oak Bay’s residents, and it will have far-reaching negative community impacts. Some of these include: many more illegal suites (fire and safety issues); higher property taxes (basement suites provide no additional revenue for the required municipal services and administration); much more street parking (a safety issue and streetscape character change); and much more commuter traffic. The impact of multi-tenant suites will also:
- Significantly affect the condition of Oak Bay’s 274 kilometres of failing infrastructure and,
- Result in many more demolitions etc.
If this Council stays true to form (which is almost certain) and follows the last two Councils public meeting decisions, they will “rubber stamp” the basement suite decisions they have approved without public regard. Oak Bay will then see a radical unwanted transformation.
The Final Secondary Suite Staff Report States: “The OCP policy directive was to explore “how” secondary suites could be regulated in Oak Bay, rather than “if” secondary suites should even be permitted. Notwithstanding the 2010 Secondary Suite Report and Survey OCP Process and Survey were highly criticized by the community, this statement is MISLEADING AND DECEPTIVE.
This is not at all what the Official Community Plan states. Its number one policy objective states, “Support a modest expansion of housing within Oak Bay while addressing concerns such as tree protection, parking, traffic, noise, effects on other properties and neighbourhhod character.”
While it is a stretch to say this new suite legislation will be a “modest expansion of housing”, when the above significant impacts are added to this list, to date, none of the harmful impacts have been adequately addressed.
Oak Bay Watch will be providing a series of Newsletters that will provide residents with all the information and evidence required to understand exactly what the Council’s radical community-change, basement suite decisions will result in and how the general community’s public interest has been disregarded.