Is Development Reflecting Oak Bay's Heritage?
Heritage: as defined in the Official Community Plan:
“Key heritage aspects of Oak Bay include the streetscapes and neighbourhoods, historic buildings and structures, cultural and natural features and history”
So it would seem from this comprehensive definition that saving one house or even one street at a time will not get it done. Additionally, the heritage of a community like Oak Bay is also the look, feel and overall character of the community. As one developer explained in describing why he liked living in Oak Bay - because it’s, “away from the hustle and bustle of downtown” . “Oak Bay living truly is the best of all worlds”.
What else defines Oak Bay’s Heritage?
Going for a walk in an environment free from unnecessary noise and disturbance, different style homes that are proportionate to their lots, well maintained properties, tasteful subdivisions, ample mature trees, greenery, a minimum of paved lots, few parking restrictions, uncrowded amenities and allowing safe suites for 2 boarders with shared cooking facilities.
What does not define Oak Bay’s Heritage?
Using basements, garden sheds and garages as family and multi-tenant accommodation, homes used as businesses e.g. bed and breakfasts; homes used as student boarding houses; over-built, over-paved lots; homes packed together; squeezed in duplexes and triplexes; debris on boulevards; residential streets lined with cars; and more and more required traffic control devices and regulations.
Local Government has a lot of control over its zoning to protect heritage and control growth to a sustainable level. This is necessary to allow infrastructure, services, amenity and taxation levels to keep pace. If Council is looking to provide housing options a good start would be townhouses that are proportionate to the lot, preserve the natural environment and that fit the streetscape.
In the not too distant past, our zoning allowed subdivisions that were not over-built and preserved trees. However, the recent strategy by Oak Bay developers to use Heritage Revitalization Agreements, conservation promises, and Bare Land Strata subdivisions to override zoning cannot be allowed to continue. Granting variances for the new houses negates the intention of our bylaws.
These forms of subdivision development must be used appropriately. Certainly, concessions can be made but they must provide a significant benefit for the community – the current practices of excessive lot clearance, too much blasting and tree cutting must stop.
Oak Bay has always had mainly moderate, various style homes proportionate to their lots and attractive subdivisions. These developments did not require these destructive practices – why not reinstate this zoning.
Oak Bay Watches Perspective
A developer has recently offered the preservation of a stone-wall and restoration of a small (to be moved elsewhere) carriage house as his heritage contribution. This, in exchange for allowing a multi-million dollar 4 lot subdivision, plus an incredible amount of blasting to create a six-car garage under an 8000 square foot house. This would be built in the middle of what will soon be a Heritage Conservation Area. It is understandable the Community has a lot of problems with this proposal.
The subdivision development was considered by the Heritage Commission on November 13, 2018. It was clear from the discussion by Commission members that District policies and guidelines for the development were absent, important information had not been provided and the Commission members expressed their disappointment that adequate notice and key elements of the proposal were noticeably missing.
Is the proposed heritage benefit adequate, given the scale of the development? Is the proposal consistent with the Official Community Plan’s Heritage goal of conserving Oak Bay’s built heritage for future generations?
Members of the public were not provided with what little material the developer and the District had submitted to the Heritage Commission members, making it difficult to follow the discussion. These documents were also not provided on the District’s website along with the agenda.
Conclusion
The developer stands to make a very sizeable profit in the millions for what has been questioned as an acceptable heritage benefit. From the community’s standpoint, it has provided a considerable amount of staff time and is looking at a significant amount of blasting in a residential area. The Conservation area's neighbourhood streets are essentially country lanes which form part of the defining characteristics of the heritage legacy. It is also likely with the massive haulage of blasted rock these will be destroyed in addition to mature trees. This indicates the District has not defined how much blasting per development is permitted and, there is a lot of rock.
It seems that this Proposal is an inappropriate use of a Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA) – frowned upon in other municipalities. Retaining a wall and a small moveable carriage house could have been negotiated by covenant, along with development cost charges (if a schedule were in place) and a contribution to the Park Acquisition Fund - all under our current Subdivision Bylaw. This would have provided much more control over the proposal. To their credit, the Heritage Commission strongly pointed out in order to make informed decisions members would require much more information about this intended development‘s specifications and any other HRA coming forward.
In the run-up to the last election, one elected Council Candidate explained in his platform, when referring to change and the respect for heritage, “ Heritage means (primarily referring to land use change)....protecting the characteristics of our community that we love”.
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*******Please help us continue to provide you with information about Community concerns and Council decisions and actions. Oak Bay Watch members also help community groups with their specific development concerns. Donate to Oak Bay Watch - even $5 or $10 dollars provides expenses for door- to- door handouts and helps us maintain our website. Oak Bay Watch is committed to ensuring the Community gets the full range of information on budget, governance and all key development issues – a well-informed opinion cannot be made without this.
(Please use Donate Button at bottom of oakbaywatch.com Home Page)
Keep informed please sign up for our newsletter – bottom of Newsletter Menu Item.
Heritage: as defined in the Official Community Plan:
“Key heritage aspects of Oak Bay include the streetscapes and neighbourhoods, historic buildings and structures, cultural and natural features and history”
So it would seem from this comprehensive definition that saving one house or even one street at a time will not get it done. Additionally, the heritage of a community like Oak Bay is also the look, feel and overall character of the community. As one developer explained in describing why he liked living in Oak Bay - because it’s, “away from the hustle and bustle of downtown” . “Oak Bay living truly is the best of all worlds”.
What else defines Oak Bay’s Heritage?
Going for a walk in an environment free from unnecessary noise and disturbance, different style homes that are proportionate to their lots, well maintained properties, tasteful subdivisions, ample mature trees, greenery, a minimum of paved lots, few parking restrictions, uncrowded amenities and allowing safe suites for 2 boarders with shared cooking facilities.
What does not define Oak Bay’s Heritage?
Using basements, garden sheds and garages as family and multi-tenant accommodation, homes used as businesses e.g. bed and breakfasts; homes used as student boarding houses; over-built, over-paved lots; homes packed together; squeezed in duplexes and triplexes; debris on boulevards; residential streets lined with cars; and more and more required traffic control devices and regulations.
Local Government has a lot of control over its zoning to protect heritage and control growth to a sustainable level. This is necessary to allow infrastructure, services, amenity and taxation levels to keep pace. If Council is looking to provide housing options a good start would be townhouses that are proportionate to the lot, preserve the natural environment and that fit the streetscape.
In the not too distant past, our zoning allowed subdivisions that were not over-built and preserved trees. However, the recent strategy by Oak Bay developers to use Heritage Revitalization Agreements, conservation promises, and Bare Land Strata subdivisions to override zoning cannot be allowed to continue. Granting variances for the new houses negates the intention of our bylaws.
These forms of subdivision development must be used appropriately. Certainly, concessions can be made but they must provide a significant benefit for the community – the current practices of excessive lot clearance, too much blasting and tree cutting must stop.
Oak Bay has always had mainly moderate, various style homes proportionate to their lots and attractive subdivisions. These developments did not require these destructive practices – why not reinstate this zoning.
Oak Bay Watches Perspective
A developer has recently offered the preservation of a stone-wall and restoration of a small (to be moved elsewhere) carriage house as his heritage contribution. This, in exchange for allowing a multi-million dollar 4 lot subdivision, plus an incredible amount of blasting to create a six-car garage under an 8000 square foot house. This would be built in the middle of what will soon be a Heritage Conservation Area. It is understandable the Community has a lot of problems with this proposal.
The subdivision development was considered by the Heritage Commission on November 13, 2018. It was clear from the discussion by Commission members that District policies and guidelines for the development were absent, important information had not been provided and the Commission members expressed their disappointment that adequate notice and key elements of the proposal were noticeably missing.
Is the proposed heritage benefit adequate, given the scale of the development? Is the proposal consistent with the Official Community Plan’s Heritage goal of conserving Oak Bay’s built heritage for future generations?
Members of the public were not provided with what little material the developer and the District had submitted to the Heritage Commission members, making it difficult to follow the discussion. These documents were also not provided on the District’s website along with the agenda.
Conclusion
The developer stands to make a very sizeable profit in the millions for what has been questioned as an acceptable heritage benefit. From the community’s standpoint, it has provided a considerable amount of staff time and is looking at a significant amount of blasting in a residential area. The Conservation area's neighbourhood streets are essentially country lanes which form part of the defining characteristics of the heritage legacy. It is also likely with the massive haulage of blasted rock these will be destroyed in addition to mature trees. This indicates the District has not defined how much blasting per development is permitted and, there is a lot of rock.
It seems that this Proposal is an inappropriate use of a Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA) – frowned upon in other municipalities. Retaining a wall and a small moveable carriage house could have been negotiated by covenant, along with development cost charges (if a schedule were in place) and a contribution to the Park Acquisition Fund - all under our current Subdivision Bylaw. This would have provided much more control over the proposal. To their credit, the Heritage Commission strongly pointed out in order to make informed decisions members would require much more information about this intended development‘s specifications and any other HRA coming forward.
In the run-up to the last election, one elected Council Candidate explained in his platform, when referring to change and the respect for heritage, “ Heritage means (primarily referring to land use change)....protecting the characteristics of our community that we love”.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
*******Please help us continue to provide you with information about Community concerns and Council decisions and actions. Oak Bay Watch members also help community groups with their specific development concerns. Donate to Oak Bay Watch - even $5 or $10 dollars provides expenses for door- to- door handouts and helps us maintain our website. Oak Bay Watch is committed to ensuring the Community gets the full range of information on budget, governance and all key development issues – a well-informed opinion cannot be made without this.
(Please use Donate Button at bottom of oakbaywatch.com Home Page)
Keep informed please sign up for our newsletter – bottom of Newsletter Menu Item.