A controversial luxury marina could open in Victoria Harbour in the spring of 2014, now that it has received a green light from the federal government.Larry Halgren, project lead for the Victoria International Marina, said Thursday that a building-permit application will be submitted to Victoria City Hall this year.The aim is to start construction, expected to take 10 or 11 months, next year.The 29-slip marina in front of Songhees is a joint project of WAM Development Group of Alberta and local businessman Bob Evans. Original plans called for 52 slips, but community concern prompted Victoria council to impose restrictions that reduced moorage by half and maintained access to an adjacent park. A provincial water lot is being leased for the marina, located between Paul Kane Place and Cooperage Place. Two one-storey commercial buildings of about 7,000 square feet each will also go up on water lots already owned by the developer. Its expected the tenants will include a restaurant.The developer has been waiting for Transport Canadas permission to proceed. Approval was granted earlier, but when zoning for the project was changed, a new application had to be submitted.Project costs were previously estimated at $20 million; Halgren said current costs are not yet known.Transport Canada will require several new safety measures, including markers, strobe lights, signs and increased harbour patrols.Halgren said the next step is to meet with the architect and structural design engineer and begin finalizing designs.Work in the water can start after July 1 under federal fisheries rules. About 60 pilings are required for the marina and more for the commercial buildings.The site will be dredged and the marina floated in. Well be removing 100-year-old wood waste from the seabed and planting three eelgrass beds along the north shore of the harbour, just west of the marina between Lime Bay and Colville Island, Halgren said.As for when the first boat will be moored, thats likely to be the spring of 2014, Halgren said. Boaters will lease slips under long-term agreements. So far, about eight or nine owners have reserved spots, providing $10,000 refundable deposits.The project has been the focus of community acrimony, debate, protests, public meetings, petitions and legal action since it was announced by Evans in May 2008.Opponents complained large yachts would block views, cause environmental harm and compromise safety in the active harbour, where floatplanes land and take off frequently. The harbour is heavily used by paddlers, small ferries and pleasure and working vessels.Supporters say that a marina had always been part of the plan for Songhees and that the facility would fill a need for larger slips and boost the local economy through shopping, and provisioning for ships.Barry Hobbis, vice-president of operations at Victoria Harbour Ferry Co. Ltd., is disappointed that a navigable waters permit was issued, saying that safety remains the top concern.Hes worried about the safety of paddlers who may take an outside route around the marina in the busy harbour. Hes also unhappy with the design of an alternate inside route that would put paddlers near the sterns of 65-foot and longer vessels and send them through a tunnel where the amount of space available will change with the tides.Hobbis said hes seen aircraft bounce on the water in the harbour where outrigger canoes, kayaks and stand-up paddlers are often seen.The federal decision may seem reasonable in Ottawa, but to people who live and work here, It just doesnt make any sense, Hobbis said. The whole thing is wrong.Dredging the seabed will bring up old industrial contaminants which will be spread through the harbour, he said.Maurine Karagianis, NDP MLA for Esquimalt-Royal Roads, slammed the federal government for altering the Environmental Assessment Act this year, thus stopping more than 500 assessments, including the marina plan.I know the community was really banking on that environmental assessment piece to really inform the discussions, she [email protected]
