Newsletter September 6, 2022: Secondary Suite Public Meeting Information
Council and staff have quoted the Official Community Plan (OCP) at every opportunity to support their densification agenda. However, they are about to enact zoning legislation while ignoring the OCP’s number one housing objective which states:
“Support a modest expansion of Housing”: Changing the Zoning Bylaws to allow 6 renters to occupy a basement in any single-family home in Oak Bay, cannot in any one’s estimation be considered a “modest expansion of housing”.
Especially considering Council also intends to follow this up with an infill zoning change that will also add much more densification.
The Official Community Plan’s first objective goes on to say “While addressing the following”:
“Infrastructure”: That Oak Bay’s infrastructure is very fragile is not in question. There have been a number of failures over the years, some recently. Professional reports and, residents have been sounding the alarm about the infrastructure discrepancy for the last half a dozen years. However, the infrastructure cannot be, and has not gotten, stronger when subjected to the “stressors” that have been placed upon it. For example: the thousands of trees, and large sections of the urban forest that have been removed to make way for development and with the excessive rain events in the last decade, have taken their toll in extensive damage and expense.
For some reason, knowing that the District has 274 kilometres of failing pipes to upgrade and a overwhelming infrastructure deficit, Council have only allocated a small portion of the exceptionally high tax property increases to upgrade and improve the infrastructure. On the other hand, Council have spent a great deal of their and staff’s time and approved spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on their densification agenda. In addition Council has approved new administration staffing, municipal hall renovations and many much less important priorities. It’s no wonder that very little progress on infrastructure improvements has been made.
“Parking”: Surely Council understands that making Oak Bay‘s streets parking lots, cannot be considered as addressing parking?
“Traffic”: Oak Bay’s traffic situation has steadily deteriorated in the last decade: 2 block waits are common at many intersections and many of Oak Bay’s streets have been reduced to one lane (See Oak Bay News letter Appendix #1). The District has reported that Oak Bay’s population has not increased for some time however, no attempt has been made by the District to analyze the cause of the increased traffic. Someone is driving these cars. How will adding a new population of renters, many of whom will be commuters by car, address this serious concern?
“Effects on other properties”:
It should be clear that: if the above unwanted impacts identified in the Official Community Plan have not been resolved before multi-tenant secondary suites are legalized, and Council’s conditions that favor developers, investors and suite owners are approved, how can this not have an effect on neighbours.
This Council legacy is in peril.
Oak Bay Watch Perspective
Residents that responded to the District’s satisfaction survey indicated that they would be willing to pay more taxes in order to address the infrastructure crisis. However they did not indicate that they would pay more to fund densification initiatives that would add stress to its limited capacity. Or for that matter, to pay for Council’s and staff’s much less important priorities.
Council has indicated that: “a secondary suites registration/tracking system will be developed with the goal of collecting baseline information, promoting health and safety, educating existing suite owners, and phased-in compliance with the BC Building Code (Division A);” The evidence from other municipalities however, indicates that very few of the new secondary suites will register.
The facts are: Most secondary suites in BC are unregistered. Experience has shown getting suite owners to register has proven to be very difficult. It seems to us that it would have been much more beneficial to provide an estimate of the staffing and taxpayer cost involved, before bringing this forward to a public meeting. Information about the increased number of demolitions which are expected to increase in Oak Bay and resident complaints that have resulted elsewhere, would also have been appreciated.
There is no doubt Council’s densification initiatives will add more residents and this will generate a demand for more services. As indicated it will place a lot more stress on the “already in trouble” infrastructure. With Oak Bay depending almost exclusively on its homeowners’ property taxes, exceptionally high administration costs, and now ramped up inflation, the potential for amalgamation is more than a possibility. ___________________________
“Nothing is inevitable if you are paying attention” Oak Bay WatchNewsletters
Oak Bay Watch is a volunteer community association and its members have a variety of professional backgrounds in both the public and private sector.
*******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 and sign up for our newsletter – bottom of Newsletter Menu Item.
Appendix #1
Oak Bay News Letter: "Suites will compound Oak Bay's parking congestion" Aug. 27, 2022
“Before city councillors vote on allowing legal suites and garden homes, they might consider taking an evening drive around the streets of Oak Bay and noting the big increase in motor vehicles parked on them.
Many streets have cars parked bumper to bumper the length of the city block and many are parked closer to the street corner than the law allows.
The streets are narrow and with vehicles parked on both sides, the streets become essentially one-lane roads. And with big pickup trucks or SUVs near the corner, visibility often entails driving out onto the thoroughfare to check for approaching traffic. If this is the situation now, how much worse will it become once suite tenants are parking on the roads as well?”
Oak Bay Resident
Council and staff have quoted the Official Community Plan (OCP) at every opportunity to support their densification agenda. However, they are about to enact zoning legislation while ignoring the OCP’s number one housing objective which states:
“Support a modest expansion of Housing”: Changing the Zoning Bylaws to allow 6 renters to occupy a basement in any single-family home in Oak Bay, cannot in any one’s estimation be considered a “modest expansion of housing”.
Especially considering Council also intends to follow this up with an infill zoning change that will also add much more densification.
The Official Community Plan’s first objective goes on to say “While addressing the following”:
“Infrastructure”: That Oak Bay’s infrastructure is very fragile is not in question. There have been a number of failures over the years, some recently. Professional reports and, residents have been sounding the alarm about the infrastructure discrepancy for the last half a dozen years. However, the infrastructure cannot be, and has not gotten, stronger when subjected to the “stressors” that have been placed upon it. For example: the thousands of trees, and large sections of the urban forest that have been removed to make way for development and with the excessive rain events in the last decade, have taken their toll in extensive damage and expense.
For some reason, knowing that the District has 274 kilometres of failing pipes to upgrade and a overwhelming infrastructure deficit, Council have only allocated a small portion of the exceptionally high tax property increases to upgrade and improve the infrastructure. On the other hand, Council have spent a great deal of their and staff’s time and approved spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on their densification agenda. In addition Council has approved new administration staffing, municipal hall renovations and many much less important priorities. It’s no wonder that very little progress on infrastructure improvements has been made.
“Parking”: Surely Council understands that making Oak Bay‘s streets parking lots, cannot be considered as addressing parking?
“Traffic”: Oak Bay’s traffic situation has steadily deteriorated in the last decade: 2 block waits are common at many intersections and many of Oak Bay’s streets have been reduced to one lane (See Oak Bay News letter Appendix #1). The District has reported that Oak Bay’s population has not increased for some time however, no attempt has been made by the District to analyze the cause of the increased traffic. Someone is driving these cars. How will adding a new population of renters, many of whom will be commuters by car, address this serious concern?
“Effects on other properties”:
It should be clear that: if the above unwanted impacts identified in the Official Community Plan have not been resolved before multi-tenant secondary suites are legalized, and Council’s conditions that favor developers, investors and suite owners are approved, how can this not have an effect on neighbours.
This Council legacy is in peril.
Oak Bay Watch Perspective
Residents that responded to the District’s satisfaction survey indicated that they would be willing to pay more taxes in order to address the infrastructure crisis. However they did not indicate that they would pay more to fund densification initiatives that would add stress to its limited capacity. Or for that matter, to pay for Council’s and staff’s much less important priorities.
Council has indicated that: “a secondary suites registration/tracking system will be developed with the goal of collecting baseline information, promoting health and safety, educating existing suite owners, and phased-in compliance with the BC Building Code (Division A);” The evidence from other municipalities however, indicates that very few of the new secondary suites will register.
The facts are: Most secondary suites in BC are unregistered. Experience has shown getting suite owners to register has proven to be very difficult. It seems to us that it would have been much more beneficial to provide an estimate of the staffing and taxpayer cost involved, before bringing this forward to a public meeting. Information about the increased number of demolitions which are expected to increase in Oak Bay and resident complaints that have resulted elsewhere, would also have been appreciated.
There is no doubt Council’s densification initiatives will add more residents and this will generate a demand for more services. As indicated it will place a lot more stress on the “already in trouble” infrastructure. With Oak Bay depending almost exclusively on its homeowners’ property taxes, exceptionally high administration costs, and now ramped up inflation, the potential for amalgamation is more than a possibility. ___________________________
“Nothing is inevitable if you are paying attention” Oak Bay WatchNewsletters
Oak Bay Watch is a volunteer community association and its members have a variety of professional backgrounds in both the public and private sector.
*******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 and sign up for our newsletter – bottom of Newsletter Menu Item.
Appendix #1
Oak Bay News Letter: "Suites will compound Oak Bay's parking congestion" Aug. 27, 2022
“Before city councillors vote on allowing legal suites and garden homes, they might consider taking an evening drive around the streets of Oak Bay and noting the big increase in motor vehicles parked on them.
Many streets have cars parked bumper to bumper the length of the city block and many are parked closer to the street corner than the law allows.
The streets are narrow and with vehicles parked on both sides, the streets become essentially one-lane roads. And with big pickup trucks or SUVs near the corner, visibility often entails driving out onto the thoroughfare to check for approaching traffic. If this is the situation now, how much worse will it become once suite tenants are parking on the roads as well?”
Oak Bay Resident