Bridging development needed in Vic West
Re: “James Bay project should be a bridge,” letter, Sept. 9.
I agree with the letter, and the request for a transitional “bridge” type design for new buildings.
We should be building new buildings that are related to their surroundings and reflect the desirable qualities of existing neighbourhoods in Victoria.
Residents of the Vic West neighbourhood are dismayed by a recent zoning decision on Alston Street.
A large site just west of the Railyards condos was recently rezoned to enable plans for a solid block of a building that will tower over the existing condos on Tyee Road.
The design is insensitive to the official city plan for this site. This building and adjacent future development will create a wall between the thoughtfully developed Railyards project below and the traditional and heritage housing neighbourhood to the west.
Here is an opportunity to build well-designed transitional, missing middle multi-unit housing with pedestrian access to shopping, to schools, to recreation and parks that would be welcomed alike by families searching for housing and by the existing neighbourhood.
And yet what we get is a building of 300-square-foot micro-units. This is a wasted opportunity.
Furthermore, the building design is not asked to respect any of the sightlines, landscaping or impacts on neighbours and privacy that a residential building would need to consider.
Why does the City of Victoria planning not ask for better? We are selling out our city.
Rosemary Mueller
Victoria
Start protecting parks while we still can
Re: “Possibility of rental housing in Carnarvon Park draws backlash,” Sept. 8.
The article mentions important points against putting housing in parks such as: the need for more parkland — not less — as our communities densify; our duty to protect our parks for future generations; and 900-plus signatures on a petition against the proposal makes it clear that the community doesn’t support this plan.
Additionally there are two strong economic arguments against housing in Carnarvon Park:
1. Oak Bay will soon have to make significant infrastructure investments in our sewer system as well as in new buildings for the police and firefighters. This will cost tens of millions of dollars (that we don’t have).
It would be the height of fiscal irresponsibility to invest tens of millions of dollars (that we don’t have) into building housing in Carnarvon Park. Let’s focus on our community’s needs before looking at optional spending.
2. Spending tens of millions of dollars to build a mere 24 units in Carnarvon Park will probably provide housing for less than 100 people. As a solution to our housing crisis, the proposed plan is extremely inefficient.
To boot, if anyone thinks it’s only Carnarvon Park that is at risk, one of the Oak Bay councillors revealed that the designs for the new firehall in Fireman’s Park will include housing.
None of our parks are safe. We must protect them now.
Susan Doering
Victoria
We need to preserve precious parks
The proposal for permanent residential use in Carnarvon Park should be a red flag and of concern to everyone throughout Greater Victoria, not just Oak Bay residents. What a terrible precedent that would be.
As urban life becomes more dense and more paved over, open space, green space and places for recreation will become more valuable, not less.
Carnarvon is a multi-use park, not just a sports park. The western field (along Henderson Road and adjacent to the proposed housing) is used for soccer in the fall and baseball in the spring.
The baseball diamond there (rebuilt every spring) has 70-foot basepaths and is used for Pee Wee division baseball.
Numerous provincial baseball tournaments have been held there over the years, including the Pee Wee AAA National Tournament in 2006, with teams representing every province. It is not “just a practice field,” as one Oak Bay councillor was heard to have said.
The rest of Carnarvon Park is heavily used by lawn bowlers, tennis and pickle ball players, dog-walkers, kite flyers, picnickers, kids cooling off in the water park, etc.
Isn’t it about time for municipal (and provincial) governments to provide incentives to encourage the provision of rental housing during the redevelopment of private commercial property along transportation corridors, rather than sacrificing our priceless parkland? Why do we frequently hear that being discussed but rarely acted upon?
There is no room for residential use in our parks. Our open spaces are becoming endangered.
Thomas Ovanin
Oak Bay
Look for a used ferry to replace the aging Queen
The news that the Queen of New Westminster will be out of service for six months leaves B.C. Ferries, and its customers, in a real bind.
Stop-gaps to replace broken-down vessels of an ever-aging ferry fleet do not seem to be adequate. B.C. Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez has said that he is seeking approval to build a new ferry. That sounds reasonable, but it will take time.
Perhaps the corporation should be looking to the second-hand ferry market to tide us over with reliable vessels until the new builds come out of the shipyards?
David Collins
Victoria
Homelessness is not always a risk
Re: “Homelessness could happen to anyone,” commentary, Sept. 9.
I disagree with the conclusion in the above title. As a retired person with zero debt, owning my home, no addictions, good health, a decent pension, health insurance and sense of personal responsibility, I do not believe I am a candidate for homelessness.
Bert Carswell
Sechelt
Passenger rail would help the climate
Re: “First Campaign promise: Restore the E&N line,” letters, Sept. 3.
The letter is absolutely correct, and covers all the benefits that bringing passenger rail back would provide. Your savings in gas bills alone would be considerable. I am sure an understanding could be reached with the First Nations.
Sadly, most politicians cannot seem to grasp this. I expect they will make some token remarks during the upcoming election but that is as far as the issue will go.
Climate change is the No. 1. issue for many candidates from all parties. Surely they can see that restoration of passenger rail would contribute to climate change — or can they?
Ian Baird
Victoria
Let’s eliminate the horse‑drawn carriages
With the increase in the number of cruise ships docking at Ogden Point has come an increase in the number of horse carriage and trolley tours clip-clopping past my Government Street home.
Beginning mid-morning and continuing to midnight, horse-drawn tours go past about every six minutes. The worst is between 10:30 p.m. and midnight.
Horse-drawn trolleys travel, lit up like Christmas trees and with drivers fully miked, often three or four in a row. Although city bylaws state the trolleys are to be off the streets by 10:30 p.m., they are still rolling at 11:30 p.m. and later.
But, more than disrupted sleep or bylaw infractions, what bothers me the most are the horses. By late evening, they are knackered, having worked steadily through hot afternoons. With heads down and swaying side to side in fatigue, they plod past my window to get the cruise-ship passengers back for midnight departures. Yes, these are horses bred to work, but they were bred to work in forests and fields not in busy downtowns.
They are also in danger: I have seen several near-accidents as yahoos try to zip around them even as the horses were about to turn in front of them. It’s time to pony up and realize horses should not have to toil in our small city. I would like to see horse-drawn tours restricted to Beacon Hill Park or eliminated. Surely there must be other ways for cruise-ship passengers to see our city.
Vivian Moreau
James Bay
Let’s get rail transit, not more buses
The B.C. Greens proposal for free transit is a great idea. However, the transit system needs major improvements for it to become functional. The solution proposed is to double and triple the number of city buses, and this is certainly not the way to improve the system.
First and foremost, the primary method for transit should be rail, as it used to be in the past. Cities would have tramways and regions would have rail lines.
In Luxembourg, public transport is fast, clean and free. Since 2020, all modes of public transport — buses, trains and the tram — have been free of charge throughout the country.
And with a network that is constantly adapting to the passengers’ needs and the addition of the tram, this form of transport is increasingly popular with residents and visitors alike.
It is not about more buses, more bicycle lanes, and more widening of roads for cars. It is about building and restoring more rail systems. For instance, the Malahat rail system should be restored, and there should be planning for trams in downtown Victoria and surrounding areas.
It is certainly not to buy more buses, to expand highways for cars and streets for bicycles.
Roger Cyr
Victoria
Real vision needed with homelessness
Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto deserves a partial mark at least for that failure of an idea to make overnight camping for the homeless available on large parking lots belonging to participating churches and centres.
First, one has to ask what the mayor thinks the word “neighbourhood” means and how does she see that in relation to having groups of people with severe mental problems and drug dependencies plugged into those communities?
One place proposed was directly across from a public school. This is not NIMBY, this is about not dealing with the real problems and providing Band-Aid solutions that will create more problems than they will solve.
How about putting more money and effort into having outreach resources and counsellors specialized in this area working with the street population? Perhaps a few less new bike lanes could help subsidize the programs.
Clearly, the mayor is dealing with a massive problem, and as the disparity between haves and have-nots increases and the middle-class dwindles to insignificant percentages, it’s certainly not going to get better without some real vision, determination and co-operation between all divisions of the ideological and political spectrum.
Wes Wraggett
Victoria
Many, many problems with parking lot idea
It would not take long to count on the fingers of two hands, the problems with housing in parking lots, which a grade school child could figure, and I am glad Victoria council voted thumbs down on this latest solution to homelessness.
Noise, littering, no sanitation, discarded needles and no room for church parking. As in any tightly housed group of people, there is bound to be conflict, drinking and general mayhem.
I do not want to label those who must live outdoors, but the neighbourhoods will be affected in some negative ways and despite the blessings of some sympathetic church goers, it just won’t gel.
Valerie Bellefleur
Victoria
Individual needs must be considered
Tent cities strewn throughout Victoria have created a captive audience for drug dealers to prey on addicts or peddle their wares on new potential customers.
I remember the one at the courthouse lawn quite well and, unfortunately, this is the kind of criminal behaviour that was allowed to go on for months.
Community centres or churches shouldn’t have to host this kind of activity, nor should anyone on their property.
Regular people should not have to fix the city’s problem. The answer is clear, but just not being implemented because of fears of stigmatizing and the usual excuses we hear from certain city councillors.
Homelessness can’t just be put into one little neat package and defined as just people without homes. There is so much more to be addressed on individual basis and need. For example, developmentally challenged people, who don’t possess the skills or aptitude for having a career, which translates to no livelihood, no home, etc. — what is the government doing for all of them?
Lay people who don’t have knowledge or expertise about this may just think “get a job, get a home, and get off the streets.” That is never going to happen for a certain contingent of people. Then there’s the people who suffer with mental illness, which is quite different from developmental challenges.
It would be more effective to look at each person’s individual need, rather than just lumping everyone without a home into a one-fix-fits-all solution and leaving them to care for themselves.
L.A. Larkin
Victoria
SEND US YOUR LETTERS
• Email: [email protected]
• Mail: Letters to the editor, Times Colonist, 201-655 Tyee Rd., Victoria, B.C. V9A 6X5
