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Glencoe waterfront tradeoff not feasible,
says developer |
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People: |
Moore, Bill |
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Companies: |
Stanrick Group Inc |
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Author(s): |
Carla Wilson |
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Section: |
News |
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Publication title: |
Times - Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Nov 3,
1993. pg. 1 |
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Full Text (510 words) |
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(Copyright Times Colonist (Victoria) 1993) by Carla
Wilson Times-Colonist staff Trading off the entire waterfront at Glencoe Cove
as park in exchange for a higher density than proposed wouldn't work, the
developer told a packed Tuesday meeting. Stanrick
Group Inc. wants to build 99 housing units on its 16.4- hectare property near
Glencoe Cove and in return would hand over 1.28 waterfront hectares and 1.59
hectares of forest along Vantreight Drive to Saanich as park. The Friends
of Glencoe Cove are fighting for a total of 5.25 waterfront hectares to be
set aside as park, as recommended in the official community plan. Bill Moore,
Stanrick spokesman, tried to head off any suggestions for higher density
inland on the site as a trade off for all the waterfront. The portion of the
waterfront slated for low-height, single-family houses represents 40 per cent
of the monetary value of the entire property. Upwards of
300 units, with about 700 residents, would have to be built to reach a
similar return to the existing zoning and there would be considerably more
pressure on public services, Moore said. Stanrick
promised neighbors any development would fit in with the area and intends to
stick to that commitment, he said. Their 99-unit
proposal would add about 248 residents in a variety of housing types and
bring the municipality about $96,000 in taxes annually, Moore said. It
"respects the existing character of the surrounding neighborhood and the
people who live there." The Moore family has owned the land since the
1940s and lived on it since the 1950s. Schemes illustrated at the meeting
showed pitched roof homes, surrounded by trees, with sideyard setbacks (the
distance from the house to the property line) greater than demanded by the
municipality. Stanrick
plans to set up a society to oversee building schemes, Moore said. Under the
Municipal Act, Saanich can only insist on five per cent of the land being
devoted to park under the existing zoning, which would allow 34 single-family
homes. Moore said
that when areas to be protected by covenant are added to the proposed
parkland, more than 22 per cent of the site would be preserved in its natural
state. There would also be a network of trails. Stanrick's
plan is sensitive to heritage sites and protects a cormorant rookery and
plants, he said. Covenants, enforceable through the courts, would protect
areas of rare and endangered plants, including Garry Oak trees. About 400
people packed into a hall at the Garth Homer Centre Tuesday night for a
Saanich com mittee of the whole meeting. Councillors
were to decide whether to send the proposal to public hearing. But Mayor
Murray Coell said a second meeting may have to held if all the speakers were
not heard. The meeting
was continuing at press time, with The Friends of Glencoe Cove expected to
address councillors next. A spokesman said earlier that the organization had
lined up about 30 speakers to discuss the proposal. The Friends
of Glencoe Cove are hoping the province will step in with money that would
preserve the rest of the waterfront. |