Committee of the Whole

Good evening, everybody.

Welcome to our committee of the whole meeting.

Uh I'm in the chair today because we do rotating chairs, and I'd like to recognize that we're on the uh Lekwungen speaking people's lands, known today as the Esquimalt Nation and Songhees Nation, and that their historic connections to these lands continue to this day.

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And like I said, uh we rotate this chair, and our mayor is uh in the backbenchers today.

So uh although you're not allowed to clap or cheer.

If I say if I say something brilliant, which is probably not gonna happen, uh you can pound on your desk if you want, like you do in the House of Commons.

But anyway, let's uh uh can I get a motion to approve the agenda, please.

So moved by councillor Madsen, second by Councillor Lemon.

All those in favor, careful.

Motion to a receipt and adoption of the amenities, please.

Madison, sorry, all those in favor?

Carried. Anyone from here in the public that wishes to participate?

Uh no, I see Mr.

Nurse here, but you're later on the agenda, so that would be you now, Paul.

If you're gonna come forward, thank you.

Is there anybody Carls or anybody?

Uh sorry, uh, is there anyone online that's uh Chair Burrow, we have excuse me, Chair Brown, we have nobody on the board.

Now, Paul, thank you.

Thank you, Chairman Brown, uh, Mayor and Council.

Thank you for uh accepting our delegation to report back on the hotel development working group and a follow-up from my uh delegation, I think about five or six months ago, uh, when I first came to talk about this.

I'd also like to uh respectfully acknowledge that our offices are located on the traditional territory of the Lakwankan speaking people, uh, the song he's in the Cassapson Nation, with whom we're doing more and more work uh with regards to the visor economy.

If we could kindly move to the next slide, please.

Uh Destination Greater Victoria as the region's uh tourism board uh with about 900 members of businesses, communities, um, and other associations.

That's who we are, and we appreciate the participation on our hotel development working group, which is what we're reporting back on uh by the CAO of View Royal, the director of planning um of part of me of the town of V Royal.

We're also happy to partner with uh View Royal on your hotel development incentive report conducted by nationally recognized consulting firm Floor 13.

We co-invested in that and in a goodwill because we learned from you last time I was here that you were interested in the hotel development space, and we wanted to make sure that we wanted to be good partners and help bring some expertise to the table.

We appreciate the deepening partnership between our organization and the town to V Royal.

Ultimately, organizations like ours are service organizations based on our skills and expertise, and we're here to work with you in your ambitions in the space and constructively.

Moving to the next um next slide, please.

Uh earlier this year, falling out of destination greater victoria's 2025 to 2035 long-term destination plan, we convened a hotel development working group.

This involved municipalities, developers, uh First Nation economic development groups, financiers, the BC Hotel Association, uh various hotel uh development and operational consulting experts, and we formed a very constructive working table.

It was pan-regional effort.

Um, and you know, we find ourselves in a moment, a moment in time, because this is a risky asset class.

Um, it's much riskier than uh traditional hotel development or strata development.

But with that real estate market a little softer and with strong results in the visor economy, for the first time in about 20 to 25 years, uh hotel development is actually makes some sense to developers.

But even with that, there's still barriers to overcome.

If we can move to the um to the next slide, please.

In Greater Victoria, we have seen um an erosion in hotel uh stock.

It's been replaced, it's been purchased by BC Housing for supportive housing or adapted to other uses, like the Harvard Towers has been turned into long-term rental housing, and you know, various different stores for each one.

So, again, not only is demand very strong, but supply is constrained.

And again, our organization, because we book conventions, sports teams, and things like that, are interested in full hot full service hotels with front desks and staff, right?

That's the kind of business that we trade in.

If we could uh move to the next slide, please.

This was a learning table because there hasn't been a lot of hotel development in our region for the last 25 years.

There has been some, but it's been ad hoc.

So, what we found working around the table is there was a lot of education.

You know, um, financiers didn't really understand the needs of planners.

One of the interesting moments in the in in the um in in the uh in the um check line, because it's quite funny when uh we realized that a bunch of merrier brand standards intersected with a bunch of bylaws, right?

You know, these are the things that simple things that we had to work through, and the benefit was in the learning and being together.

So part of that was identifying even to folks around the table that there are different typologies or morphologies of hotels, and uh, you know, different types have different risk profiles and different benefits.

And for you know, the town of U Royal, more likely than not, the limited service, uh, moderate level hotel would be the type that would kind of uh best fit this organization, or pardon me, this this municipality, but again, we don't want to limit it.

It was just more of a learning opportunity.

If we could move to the next slide, uh please.

You know, as I mentioned earlier, it is a risky asset class.

Not only um are developers necessarily not in and out in terms of their money once it's sold and turned over to a strata corporation, as it would be with a condo, they have to operate them or sell minority uh assets or sell the whole thing in time.

Uh it's a longer term investment.

There are more, there are more variables.

These are outlined here.

But in terms of uh uh town council, what levers do you have?

And that's where that the more detailed report that we commissioned with floor 13 was bespoke to your um municipality, whereas the hotel development working group was more of a broader brush.

Um, but you do have several levels at your disposal, and I understand there's a report coming forward on some of those ideas as part of your OCP.

Um, but it takes goodwill of all.

Uh, moving to the next slide, please.

The other thing that we did in some detail, and this was shared with the participants, including your team who came and they have access to it, is the outside consultants that we brought to support us, who also did the the Vancouver Hotel Development Working Group, did some performas on the financial viabilities of different types of hotels.

Now, these are illustrative because every site is a different and every brand is slightly different, but it does show that even in this high revenue, high success time, that the model can be challenging.

So, certainty and um partnership with municipalities helps de-risk it.

And you know, uh uh a municipality like VR, I mean it's a bit more agile, um, may be able to position themselves as um uh you know, in in the future to be seen as attractive.

Moving to the next slide.

Again, part of the uh the benefits uh was learning, and part of the learning was not just the you know the economic benefits, the tax diversification benefits, but the community benefits.

You know, hotels serve as muster stations during emergencies, you know, community benefits, meeting places.

Um, hotels donate tens of thousands of dollars of of stays to charities and school groups and things like that during the during the years, places for unions to meet, for families to get together.

So there's there they act as not only community hubs and economic hubs, but they do they do really do add to vibrancy.

Of course, ultimately it's up to every municipality as to what they want to want to go through in terms of their priorities.

In terms of recommendations of the report, which is with your staff and and may have been shared with you.

Uh, next slide, kindly.

Um, there were six, and they're outlined here, and I'll move into each one.

But we also had three overarching goals.

You know, we have lost 2,500 rooms in the last 15 or 20 years.

There's economic and societal factors that have driven that, and some have just aged out.

So, our goal is you know, to replace most of those and to accommodate for growth, and that's more of a strategic goal.

Um, you know, things have changed a little bit.

You can't get on the coho with just your driver's license anymore.

You know, we we are kind of a lesser volume, higher yield destination these days, and that's a global trend.

Uh, but these were the top three goals and then the recommendations, which I'll quickly walk through because I have three minutes, so I'll be super quick here.

Next slide, please.

Uh, this is one I believe you've already done with your staff or are working on, which is pre-identifying areas so that you are signaling that you have clarity as a municipality when developers may be express some interest.

Next slide, please.

You know, uh this just signals that you're open for business.

And of course, every municipality will address this differently.

Uh but this means the world to the developers.

You know, time the time value of money is clear to all, and they will be shopping and looking uh competitively between the different jurisdictions as to who is who is ready for them.

Next slide, please.

Uh this is one that we're committed to continue to do.

Uh Destination Greater Victoria is that the learning table, even though the report's been finalized and the recommendations are finalized, we're gonna stick together.

We're gonna pull a group back together from all the participating municipalities.

There are five of them.

It was a very constructive group, and we'll meet a couple times a year, and we have some other actions planned, which I'll highlight in a moment.

So we'll commit to ongoing education.

Next slide, please.

Um kind of an insightful piece is that you know each nation is slightly different, but local nations have expressed interest in partnering with municipalities with developers.

Uh, the report outlines four different models, those are conceptual models.

But I think you have relationships with the nations.

Uh, they do want to participate in this space of everything that we've heard.

So we want to make sure that had strong visibility in the report.

Next uh next slide, please.

So this is where we're gonna get a bit more uh involved.

We're really good at business to business, and we're gonna apply that.

We'll be taking a delegation to the Hotel development Investment Conference in Vancouver in November, and your team is welcome to join us uh to signal that that uh you're open.

We'll have a hospitality suite, we'll just do it all right.

It'll be branded under Greater Victoria, and we'll invite all of our participant municipalities, some of our key players, to say, you know, we are now open for business.

Next slide as I wrap up, please.

So we're really happy with the process.

In fact, it was the process itself which was most beneficial.

Yes, there's a report, yes, there's recommendations, but it was the cross-sectoral learnings, um, the shared experiences.

Uh the province of BC also participated, and they're already identifying hotel investment in British Columbia as part of their um lookbook uh for attracting international um investment um as part of their uh look west tourism strategy, which has been replaced.

So, this is already in multiple different channels.

We are now presenting this report.

In fact, you're our first to city councils across the region.

Uh, we're reporting back and through delegations such as tonight.

And you know, again, as I wrap up uh with my final slide, um it's entirely up to councils uh what they want to do in terms of uh encouraging or not encouraging, but your team was very engaged.

We're grateful for that.

Um, it was a very constructive group, and hopefully you found this process valuable, both as staff and as council.

Thank you for the opportunity to present.

Thank you, Mr. Does anyone on council have uh questions? We'll start with counselor Lemmon.

Wow, thank you, Paul.

Um what would make what would make View Royal attractive or appealing or incentivize hotel developers?

Yeah, so the um the floor 13 report, which is with your staff, I would had a series of tables of of of various different things.

I I'm loath to make specific policy recommendations because I don't want to get into the internal capacity of your team or your financial situation as a municipality.

I think that would be kind of judgmental on my point.

But I think, or making assumptions is probably a better choice of words.

I think signaling that you're open for business is the most important thing.

Within those levers, you can have a variety of financial incentives.

So if you can work on certainty, some financial incentives, all that fit you, right?

And you might help separate yourself.

So even just having this dialogue is signaling that you are interested in this space, and we're here to help you through that process.

Yeah.

Thank you for your presentation and the work that you've done.

So following up on what Counselor Lemon mentioned, like we've been saying we're open for a hotel, and we've been uh I don't know, certainly around the casino council made it really clear that we were open to uh open to a hotel and and we wanted it, but we that really didn't seem to get us anywhere.

And so sure.

So now we're gonna do some targeted interventions into the market, right?

So I think that's different now.

You know, since this group has formed, we'll be going into the co um into the uh, you know, this will be our job as the marketer for the region.

We'll be going into some forms like the Western Canadian Um Develop Development Conference with you know, with drop sheets and collaterals saying that these are the partners that are interested.

Um, and uh your team is welcome to come with us.

But is it's like anything in I find in business or sports or life or anything, it's when your preparation meets opportunity is when things can happen, right?

So what's new in the last little while is I think you've identified some sites, I think you've been very actively engaged.

Our team is now very, very aware.

We've updated our hotel development perspectives to include the information from V Royal that's new.

Um, so I think just keep working on it.

Um, you know, it is a niche development opportunity, and uh we'll do our best along with the other interested municipalities, but ultimately it is f finding that right fit, right?

So um, yeah, the more preparation that can be done, and I think you're hard at work at it will will help.

Sure. And and in terms of encouraging or discouraging somebody to come in and put a hotel in, um what what's the impact of say opening up short-term rentals on as well as a place?

My favorite controversial topic.

Uh so and I understand there was this came to the table uh l last week, and uh home sharing has been around since a long time.

Um and the uh um the sh the sharing economy is is is is far and wide.

I think what you want to consider is your tax implications, your property tax implications.

As these um these platform, you know, these choices pay residential taxes as opposed to commercial taxes.

And with hotel, what's unique about hotel property taxes is they pay on the income method.

So that's where it's very lucrative for municipalities, right?

So uh when they do well as they have the last couple of years, the kind of property tax kind of revenue kind of uh hockey sticks a little bit.

Uh so I think if you're really focused um on hotel development, you just might want to just be very cautious for the next couple of years.

Um but again, I don't want to impose value judgments or anything like that because um under the provincial legislation around the short-term accommodations act, short-term vacation rentals are permitted in primary homes, garden suites, basement suites, and when people leave their primary homes to kind of go away on vacations, right?

What's you know, kind of written out of what's possible is kind of the commercialization or the industrialization of housing, right?

The and so and that's all with when the when rental rates are below three percent.

And then once if it's above three percent for two years, then it becomes your discretion as a council.

And so um, so I would just familiar yourself familiarize yourself with the short-term vacation rentals act or the short-term accommodations act, um, which is the provincial uh parent legislation, and then you know, you can kind of do your supply and demand analysis as a council with the support of your staff.

I don't want to make a value judgment on supply and demand.

From the hotelier's perspective, yeah.

Are are they more inclined to build in a if they're two sort of comparable locations at place that has short-term mentals or will it make any difference?

It can make a difference, but that's a generalized statement based on experience, right?

So every every situation is unique.

Just supply and demand, right?

So yeah. Go ahead.

Yes, thank you.

This has been an amazing concurrent uh process, um, not only um with uh the becoming members of uh of the disintegration of Victoria and and having your wide range of experts uh to assist um our staff being ready to and ready to participate in in floor 13 and I think that's the name, um, as well as us working on the OCP.

I just want to read you uh what uh one of staff's policy positions that they've just written.

Uh explore incentives to attract hotel development, including but not limited to density bonusing, parking reduction, streamlining application processing, and flexible zoning to allow for a variety of uses to support hotel development uh to service both the healthcare sector and the broader visitor market.

So I I think uh staff have really aligned themselves a lot with uh what you put here in in your your paper, and I think that's uh really excellent.

I commend the staff.

The um uh on recommendation number two, um, you know, which was um addressing the permit processes and streamlining.

Well, I in my 30 years, the two things that we streamlined was the casino and Eugo Creek.

You know, we really moved to have those two economic uh boosters, and they've been uh really good to us uh and to the residents.

So um do you have any sense of how quickly a hotel would love to be able to um have a turnaround?

You know, I think 18 months, a year to 18 months is okay.

You know, we under I think everyone understands it's an application process.

700 cents is back and forth with uh uh staff, you know.

Um I I think when they they've purchased a parcel of land and then they you know they have to do their architectural work and their all that kind of stuff, they're ready to go.

And if if it gets if it drags into years and years of paying property taxes and then servicing debt, that's when it gets frustrating.

Um, you know, I think the first meeting, kind of that kickoff meeting really sets the tone.

Uh I know if if both parties exchange perspectives right away, then everyone can work towards resolving those areas where there may be some friction.

Yeah.

Uh help me out if I may just one more question.

That was a general statement, right? That was a general, yeah. Yeah.

One of the recommendations was modernized parking requirements for hotel development.

Uh, what does that mean?

Pardon me? Uh you're you know, you raised the point, modernizing parking requirements for hotel development.

That that may or may not apply here.

Okay. Um, you know, in some places in in areas proxy more proximate to the inner core where guests may be coming on the Victoria Clipper or uh taking the BC Ferry connector bus from BC Ferries or fly drive.

It might, you know, there was kind of an old um rule that you kind of need 0.75 or one parking stall per guest suite.

That may or may not be relevant anymore.

Uh so the the only the only reason, well the reason what's an important one depending on your geography, is just look at each case individually and um and and make the best value adjustment that you can, right?

So Councillor McKenzie.

Thank you for your presentation.

Um I think the part that we struggle with when probably all municipalities struggle with is that making connections with the hotel developers.

And that's where I guess us being part of Destination Victoria.

That's where you bring the value.

So I I know you mentioned an event where you'd be hosting some of that industry, and we were invited.

But I would you mind giving like a sense of what other things you do to make those connections?

Yeah. So I mean that is the big one, right?

That it's an annual convention.

There's one in Toronto and there's one in Vancouver, and that's where all the people in the business get together.

So you know, and there's uh so that's that's the most important one.

Um on an ongoing basis, depending on market conditions and how vibrant the market is, we get calls all the time.

And what we do is we we have developed a hotel development prospectus.

We now have this report to go with it, and all your information, your team's information and your identified sites will be in that.

So that's kind of a marketing tool.

Um, and uh, you know, those are really kind of best practices for what tourism boards are able to do.

Um, you know, what I do not do as a CEO or my staff do is I don't try to kind of cut inside deals, you know, because that's not appropriate.

Um, you know, if someone comes and says I'm interested in uh uh you know a limited service hotel, I've got three or four properties, or I've got a dozen properties across Canada, your metrics look really good.

I'm like, yeah, these are the three or four municipalities that are interested that have expressed interests that I know are interested.

Here's our contact information, you know, and we kind of do that matchmaking service and then it goes from there.

Yeah.

Okay. Yeah, go ahead, uh thank you, Jerk.

Um great presentation.

Uh I know that we're traditionally kind of limited in the flags that come to Western Canada.

You get your uh Marriott, your Hyatt, your Hilton.

Uh they also have classes with it.

Would it be useful from your perspective, even if we looked at, okay, here's a lot of land that council has designated in the OCP for hotel.

If we even took a look at what they have built in other places and said, here's the default that council would agree to beforehand, like number of rooms, number of parking spots, all of those were let's say the top three flags, and said not necessarily pre-approved, but I don't think there's going to be any trouble.

Councils discussed this.

This is what it looks like on the site.

We've had those discussions.

Would that be helpful?

Yeah, really helpful.

And I would say um most councils and staff aren't that proactive.

And I think, you know, if you want to take a step further and do the work, we could have another call with 413 and say like what limited service hotel number of suites would be economically viable.

So you can and then you know, all major flags, they have regional vice presidents of development.

We could get those names and we could say, you know, book a call with them and just say we just want to let you know.

Yeah. So there are ways to go kind of beyond the passive into the more uh proactive.

Yeah. Thank you for your presentation.

And uh I think uh too, uh just going back to short-term rentals.

I think in my opinion, they're a kind of a different niche because you know, if you have a monolith uh building on the Western Gateway, for example, or you know, I'm saying 300 rooms, um which is fine.

I know that the motions coming to us today is to start the process, which I think is important.

And if they're getting some uh benefits, the uh, you know, whether it's a tax incentive or whatever, uh I would expect the hotels would expect us to ask for some amenities, whether that's a theater, uh, an outdoor band shell, uh, maybe some reduced rooms for people that are actually coming here for training at the hospital, because there are hospitals right here, it could be nurses, doctors.

Um students are not gonna pay 250, 300 a night for a hotel room.

I mean, realistically wise.

And the and a lot of travelers travel on a budget.

So to me, they're two different issues for sure.

And uh and maybe perhaps even a conference center, you know, and uh attract some businesses here would be really big.

And I understand the motion tonight is to start the process.

Because of that, I'll be supporting it.

Uh, but again, if it was just to put up a monolith building on the western uh gateway, which is on our island highway here, uh with the 300 rooms or whatever with no amenities, uh, I would be voting against.

But no, I'll be supporting it.

I I look forward to it because there is an opportunity to provide something for all of the citizens of Uroyal, not just travelers coming here for a nice fancy room.

Um uh outdoor band shells.

I mean things that are in other communities now that attract um uh I'm looking at uh uh Sydney has an outdoor band shell, uh the hotel in uh Tulalip has an outdoor band shell, bringing big big bands like Chicago and stuff like that.

Tracks a lot of people, fills the hotel up, and all the neighbors in in Marysville and that they come and watch the concert.

So um again, these are things to negotiate, of course.

And I'm sure surely the hotels would understand that.

Yeah, and these things are open for discussion.

I think uh the the the the cleanest one and the most obvious one, you could negotiate whatever amenities you think you can come to a deal on.

Uh but most hotels have meeting space.

And I I can assure you that most hotel operators will provide a certain number of hours every month for community groups and whatnot to as a kind of as a starting point, right?

That's built into their model.

Alexand, thanks again. And there's no more questions.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

So let me move to staff reports. I think Mr.

Summerville, I think you're up.

Uh thank you, Chairman Brown.

Uh before you this evening is um basically to paraphrase from Paul's presentation was a signal that we're open for business.

Uh it's a tax incentive scheme that is allowed under the community charter, uh, basically called a revitalization tax exemption.

And that allows the municipality to reduce the taxes on improvements on a property for a certain number of years.

Um this is really just preliminary.

It's a two-page report.

I wanted to squeeze it in between Paul Nursey's presentation and the OCP, which is very important as well.

Um, to lay the groundwork out to attract a hotel.

We have the opportunity, if there's 2,000 rooms needed over the next 10 years, if we could get two hotels with 100 rooms each, we could capture 10% of the market share.

Now, there's delayed gratification to attracting a hotel under a revitalization tax exemption.

You don't actually see the tax revenue for a little while.

Um, but it helps build up your tax base, diversify it, create jobs in the community because they they do employ a lot of people.

Uh they those aren't jobs that will likely be wiped out by AI.

They're they're service jobs and and good solid jobs.

Um I think this is something that I could draft up and uh warm council up to the idea of uh a bylaw, and maybe we could do first reading on one so council can get a better understanding of what it entails.

It's very challenging uh to do the cost analysis on what taxes you would be foregoing.

As Paul mentioned, taxation on the hotel properties based on revenue.

So if the hotel does well, um we'd be foregoing a lot of taxes for one to ten years, uh, and then seeing a lot of taxes after that.

Uh, if the hotel doesn't do well, we'd be foregoing less taxes.

But uh we've talked about it with the OCP, we've talked about it with the Western Gateway and with the hospital district.

We've got two really uh primo locations for hotels.

And so this is just to warm council up to the concept.

I don't believe that V Royal has done a revitalization tax exemption before, um, but it's a really strong financial signal to hotelliers that that we are open for business, and then they can see the zoning and the OCP and the permitting process, and uh that should give us a competitive advantage over our neighbors.

A question from Council uh Mayor Tobias, go ahead.

Thanks, Chair. Um Paul, in your experience, I uh you know, I I was contemplating this, and 10 years without taxation is big money for a lot of services that we could be providing, right?

Um in your experience, has there ever been a graduated tax exemption?

So maybe it starts off like um, you know, the hotel doesn't pay any tax for the first two years w when the doors open, right?

Um and then after that it goes up by 10% a year until it hits a hundred percent.

Um is that possible under the our ability to structure a tax exemption?

Uh yeah, that is definitely uh possible and and if that's preferential to council, we could do that.

Um what what I would do is I would provide uh the the skeleton of a bylaw and then uh a sort of a la carte options that council could choose from.

But um if that's council's wish to have a um you can you can choose the length and you can choose a percentage and you could combine the two and have a declining percentage of tax uh exemption over the over up to a 10-year period.

Right. So it just doesn't have to be we're not limited to uh although I'm sure it's attractive for a hotel, uh, for a 10-year no taxation whatsoever, we can play with that tax exemption however we see fit.

And your report coming back might lay out those options for us.

Yeah, if if if council's uh warm to this idea and and recommends moving forward with it, I can bring an array of options.

Um we could have all kinds of fun with uh spreadsheets and it could be from a 10% reduction for one year up to a hundred percent reduction for 10 years, or uh, or uh, as Paul said, a hockey stick, a sort of exponential increase in in taxation.

It's really uh there's a lot of expenses to building hotel and a lot of risk and uh certainly the upfront costs are the main deterrent to getting started.

Go ahead. Yeah, certainly I'm I'm very supportive of the idea and and uh like Mary Tabayas, I'm curious about uh what the a la carte options might be, and also uh from that then um what um uh examples, what successes have from other municipalities, but um and and it may also be um a municipality was able to negotiate um particular amenities or a particular size or type of uh hotel based on on the how attractive our um um exemption would be.

So that maybe would be a negotiating point with a client.

Uh certainly if if council has some ideas for amenities they'd like to see in those two zones, um preparing a short list and costing them out and providing some certainty to a developer is only gonna help.

Yeah, thank you.

Lemon, go ahead.

Yeah, um 10 years depending on how the economy is and how the casino is is doing.

10 years could be feel like a long time.

So I I appreciate this.

Um the the a la carte menu.

Uh would this were we to do this, Scott?

Would it take effect from the moment of groundbreaking through to the life of these terms?

Uh it would take effect from the time of the assessment.

Um so it's related to taxation assessment, so it would take effect at tax time.

Um you what you do is you put the bylaw in place and then you you write agreements with each developer, each hotel developer.

Um, so you could have separate agreements.

Um, you could have different agreements tailored for different zones in town.

Um, but certainly if council feels that 10 years is too long, um five years is possible.

Um so we'll we'll provide uh an array of options.

So just you know, bear with me.

At the time I I get at the time of assessments, but I but I'm I'm wondering if we're talking about a um the improvements on the property.

That means building.

So do we so that that takes place that that begins at the time that the intent to build begins.

Am I right?

Uh no, uh the improvements hit the hit the hit the assessment um part way through the year, depending on when it's built.

And for a hotel, it would be a multi-year build.

So you would see part of the improvements with without any tax revitalization.

You would see part of the improvements in year one, and then in year two, you might see most of the improvements.

Okay, and certainly by by year three, you would see the entire improvement.

Um, the reason it's called revitalization is if you were to tear down a decrepit building um which already has improvements on it, you would get uh exemption for the difference in improvements.

So if you got a million-dollar old hotel that you demolished, and you built a 10 million dollar hotel, you would get a tax exemption for $9 million dollars.

So it it gets it gets complicated.

Um it's further complicated by the way that BC Assessment treats hotels.

Uh, it's not necessarily based on the construction value, but more on the anticipated revenue and how they the inner workings of how they determine that is beyond me.

Okay. Thanks.

Counselor Madison, go ahead.

Yes, thank you.

So my understanding is staff recommendation is that we don't give a reduction on the land value.

It's just just the building.

Yeah that's right. That's right. The land values are are pretty static. And so this is really on the improvements.

You know we've had car lots sitting there for 20 years where we'd been quite happy if they built a hotel on them.

And so it you know providing some incentive makes sense because you know if you ever want to get rid of those car lots and put up something that's for you know a value in the community well that's the way to do it.

So I just don't anyways I think this is a great idea and it's something we talked about doing uh you know providing financial incentives but that's all we did was talk about it.

So I'm really pleased to see that this is an initiative and I will certainly support it.

Counselor McKenzie Thanks I think at even 10 years I'm actually not mad at that I think economically and socially it will be beneficial and we'll pay back um what we might lose in that time.

But I wonder if this is a question for maybe destination Greater Victoria Paul, like to because I'm not sure um where 10, if 10 was just a suggestion from staff or not, um, but to see, yeah, what is uh kind of recommended by them.

Uh yeah, uh just to be clear, I'm I'm not making a recommendation on percentage of of tax exemption or length at this point.

I think it would be smart to look at what our competitors uh are offering and uh and try to make sure that it's a better deal to build in V Royal than in uh neighboring municipality.

I'm happy to move staff recommendation.

Move by councilor Matson, seconded by Councillor Rogers to accept the uh CEO's report.

All in favor? Yeah, recommendation, yeah.

All in favor? Yeah, unanimous.

Good evening, uh Chair Brown and members of the committee.

This evening, I have the pleasure to present to the committee the final draft of the official community Plan.

As you all know, this journey began in December 2024 when council selected Consultants Urban Systems to assist with the OCP project.

The project officially kicked off in January 2025, and staff and the consultant have been working tirelessly over the last 18 months to prepare a final draft for the committee's consideration tonight.

There have been many people involved in the project, and we are very grateful for their dedication and contribution over the last couple of years.

And we have one of our members of our OCP Review Advisory Committee in the chamber this evening.

And phase two, the key focus areas, which focused on other sections of the OCP, such as transportation and mobility, parks and natural areas, climate action, economic development, reconciliation, infrastructure, and community safety and well-being.

Phase three, the development permit areas and guidelines will begin following the adoption of this OCP.

Next slide, please.

Throughout the OCP review and update, there has been substantial public engagement.

There were six significant engagement touch points that focused on the vision and guiding principles, how we grow, the Western Gateway Community Corridor, the policy sections, and finally the first draft.

We used several methods to raise awareness and build momentum on the project over the last 18 months.

Staff used different methods to advertise the engagement events and encourage participation, such as updates on Engage View Royal 2050 project webpage, endless social media posts, stakeholder emails, videos with the mayor, press releases, ads in the Goldstream Gazette, and a postcard mail out to approximately 3,500 to 4,000 residents and business owners, as well as presentations to Council and Committee of the Whole.

Surveys, focus groups, workshops, and open houses were conducted to gather feedback along the way.

The infographic on the right of this slide summarizes the engagement process.

Next slide, please.

Staff conducted the final round of engagement on the draft OCP in March and April.

Preparation of the final draft is the result of the collective efforts of council, the committees, representatives of the nations, stakeholders, staff, and the public.

The final round of engagement included a survey with specific questions related to the draft vision statement and goals and 10 objective and policy chapters.

To make participation flexible and accessible in this last round of engagement, respondents could choose to answer the full survey or focus on certain sections of the official community plan.

Participants were able to provide feedback through multiple choice selection and open-ended feedback questions.

The detailed results and verbatim comments are provided in the attached What We Heard report phase two draft OCP engagement, which is attached to the Council report.

Overall, participants indicated that they were supportive of the vision statement, goals, objectives, and policies.

The next three slides summarizes the level of support and satisfaction for each section of the OCP.

So we'll start here.

The draft vision statement had 85% support.

The Mobility and Connectivity Goal has 84% support.

The diverse and affordable housing goal has 54% support.

The Growth Management and Community Character Preservation Goal has 84% support.

The Natural Amenities Goal has 96% support.

The Community Wellbeing Goal has 80% support, and the Community Safety and Security Goal has 80% support.

Next slide, please.

So we'll continue here with the rest of the goals.

The Climate Action and Resilience Goal has 84% support.

The Economic Development Goal has 73% support.

The reconciliation goal has 54% support.

The community input and governance goal has 96% support.

The Regional Partnerships Goal has 76% support.

And the sustainable service delivery has 92% support.

Next slide, please.

Now I will summarize the levels of support for the policy objectives in this final draft.

The land use objectives has an 83% support.

The 75% of respondents are satisfied with the housing objectives.

And the economic development objectives has 86% support.

Next slide, please.

And the natural environment policy objectives have 90% support.

The climate action and sustainability objectives have 80 85% support.

The parks, trails, and recreation have 94% support.

The community well being and culture objectives have 87% support.

And the reconciliation objectives have another opportunity to provide comments on the final draft of the OCP at the upcoming public hearing.

However, the results of this survey indicates that we are on the right track.

Next slide, please.

At the March 31st special council meeting, council requested a red line version of the final draft document to identify how council's resolutions were incorporated into the final draft OCP.

A copy of the red line version can be found in attachment two of the community of the committee staff report.

The document also includes a table with council's 43 resolutions from the special council meeting on March 31st and the regular council meeting on April 7th, and the actions that were taken to address these resolutions in the final draft OCP.

Furthermore, since council saw the draft the first draft, several edits were also completed following comments and feedback provided by the representatives of the Songese and Kasapsom Nations, the OCP Review and Advisory Committee, staff and the public.

The extent of these changes was too complex to show in a red line version of the document, but are included as updates in the final draft.

Updates include formatting and layout changes, further refinements to content, objectives, policies and actions, revisions to the mapping, graphics and photos, and general spelling, grammar, and punctuation checks.

Next slide, which is bylaw adoption.

Tonight we are discussing and seeking feedback on the final draft.

Should the committee wish to make any to make further changes to this draft, then these would need to be presented as motions.

Similar to the resolutions passed at the March 31st and April 7th council meetings to ensure clarity and form part of the public record.

If the motions are approved by council at the following council meeting, then changes would be incorporated into the document ahead of first reading of the bylaw, which is shown here on this flowchart.

First and second reading of the bylaw could occur in July, depending on the outcome of this evening.

Following second reading, a referral will be sent to agencies, including the school board, well, the school district 61 and Capitol Regional District.

The draft bylaw will also receive a legal review.

A public hearing could be scheduled to take place in September, which is also subject to council approval, and it will give the public an opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed bylaw, as you can see on this flowchart.

Third reading would occur after the public hearing, and then bylaw adoption could happen at a subsequent meeting in September.

The aim is to complete the project prior to the next election.

Next slide, please.

So tonight we are seeking feedback from the committee, and the staff recommendation is that the committee recommend amendments to council, if any, to the final draft of the OCP, and that the final draft of the official community plan be updated to incorporate the committee's amendments prior to first reading of the bylaw, and further that the necessary bylaw be prepared to proceed with first reading of the final draft of the official committee plan.

Next slide, please.

However, there is an alternative option where the committee could support the final draft as is and instruct staff to prepare the necessary bylaw for first reading.

That concludes my presentation, and I'm very happy to take questions.

Um just so that I have access to my computer.

Thank you.

Councilor Rogers Queen.

Yes, thank you.

Um one of the um thoughts I had with um you know going directly to um um after first reading, directly to public hearing, um, and is of course with the public hearing that there's not going to be uh in between there's not going to be any um open houses.

So hopefully, with um what's residents have already seen um and depending on their level of comfort and depending on their level of questions, comments, and suggestions.

Um, if after the second or sorry, the um the public hearing, um, council were to consider um the public's input and wanting to make changes, what's the mechanism of uh being able to make changes after the public hearing?

Through the chair, great question, Councillor Rogers.

So uh council would uh have to rescind first uh pardon me rescind a second reading, and uh there would be a new public hearing following amendments to the official community plan.

Uh that got to pretty close to the you know the deadline that we're hoping to achieve, that being uh the election.

Okay, but with that's October 17th.

We've got lots of time.

Anyway, so um the um the other the other point, what what concerns me is that um and this is my uh my work collection and and is that um when we were going through this process, I had not thought that we were going to um I thought we had separated out the action plan, implementation plan from the OCP, um, because you know there wasn't really any time to to go through all those the actions and consider them considering all the actions.

So I thought we'd made the the separation.

Um staff or members of council can assist me on that recollection.

Through the chair.

There was no resolution to decouple the implementation plan from the official community plan.

What counts what staff noted is that the committee would have an opportunity to go through the action list at tonight's meeting and provide any uh recommended changes through resolution.

Councillor Rogers, I would support separating the two documents.

I mean uh I guess my question through you, Chair uh to Leanne would be does the action plan list need to live in the OCP or can it be a separate document?

Through the chair, yes, it can be a separate document.

Then Councilor Rogers, I would I would support your motion if it was to separate the two documents.

I think it adds complexity and onto the actual implementation.

And I don't think if our timelines are as aggressive as they are, uh, I think it would certainly help council to approve the OCP and then have the document for the implementation as a separate one.

Council could consider.

Yeah, Chair, I would uh make a motion that we would separate the two documents and I would give a raction all of move by Councillor Rogers, second by council uh Mayor Tobias.

Anyway questions?

Uh yes, um it's um I I was looking at the questions and they were, you know, I sorry, the action plan.

And what struck me was that there were nine pages of short-term recommendations, uh amounting to about 50 recommendations that would um uh staff had uh suggested would be um dealt with in the first term of the next council.

50 recommendations that takes up uh the strategic plan right there.

And uh so it's um I I think it's it's something that uh we carefully have to look at.

And the other thing too is if we go to a public hearing and all we want to do is change the uh the action plans, uh then we would have to rescind and go for a second hearing.

So it uh it makes it safer, I would think, uh, to staff if we wish to achieve um an OC pay.

Councilor Madsen.

Yeah, in terms of the action plan, those things would have to be passed individually anyway, so having it as a separate document's not gonna hurt at all.

Okay, call a question.

All those in favor?

Any opposed? Passed unanimously.

Thank you. Looks like we might need uh some motions for staff recommendations.

Umgers um that would be my first.

The um there's a there's a whole variety of of points, and I'll try to get to right off the bat.

Um so I'm very pleased that we do have a definition for now the um uh bike facility.

There wasn't a definition, but now there is, and um um that's on page 99 if you like to go to the uh your copy of that.

And there's bike facilities, a broad term for any physical infrastructure pavement marking or street provision designated to accommodate or encourage cycling, bicycling.

Um, I would uh move a modification.

What concerns me is a second sentence that it says these facilities range from protected lanes to secured parking.

Um, and that clouds the issue for me because it sounds like we would start right off the bat with uh protected lanes just like Erskine with ballards and concrete and and whatnot.

And I don't want to start from that point.

Um so I would um move that um you know we we that it goes from and encourage cycling uh with the primary goals being to improve cycling safety and comfort.

So in other words, the strikeout these facilities range from protected lanes to secured parking.

We move that out.

It's redundant.

It really um we've we've accomplished it quite nicely in in the first sentence.

So um uh I don't know if you and do we understand?

Would you like me to read it again that's understand why well they think because um the what is the motion the definition these facilities range from protected lanes to secure parking um it you know to do that you know it could mean all sorts of uh design changes and presumptions but that the sentence already take is already taken care of by the first sentence so allow me to read this again a bike facility is a broad term for any physical infrastructure pavement marking or street provision designated to accomplish or encourage cycling these facilities the primary goals of these facilities is to improve cycling safety and comfort that's my motion do we have a seconder I'll second uh mayor by a second uh first question I just have a question for staff on this uh what are my concerns about making a number of changes which don't change things uh change the goal or intent but it's sort of wordsmithing is that going to delay things for us and make it harder for your you know yeah basically I'm just worried about a delay and for things that aren't all that uh significant through the through through the chair um thank you counselor mattson for that question uh I would um caution um the committee to be careful of um revive revising glossary of terms when some of these terms come from the dictionary um and also um for you know for purposes because they don't like something.

It doesn't mean that it's not within like order of preference or anything like that.

If if there's a desire to change the order, but the reality is a separated bike lane is considered a bike facility.

So I guess my other question would be it sounds like we just provided sort of a range of services that aren't it's not necessary that that these things be done, but it this is just you've just basically listed a bunch of options.

Councillor Rogers follow up or if I may.

Councillor mentioned the um the first sentence takes care of it all.

If you look at the first sentence, um uh it's talked about in the physical infrastructure, payment marking, or street provision.

That takes care of it.

They then the staff on the recommendation goes into the depth, presuming and and telling us that you know the facilities range, you know, and it's suggesting that protective lanes are um and if staff can assure us that protected lanes does not mean ballage and and concrete, um it can mean any kind of protection, then I'll be happy to withdraw my motion.

But I I'm always cautious that we're just gonna straight dive straight to concrete.

So do we have a second or are you withdrawing it's a second or yeah yeah and if I I could just motivate for a little bit I think you know whereas there's changes once it's in the OCP all of our bylaws have to conform with the OCP all of them so if it mentions something in here that somebody's going to interpret as as a thing that the this is the genesis of all of our bylaws.

If we have a bylaw and it's never not really um within the OCP then it's not anchored to anything so the one thing about the OCP that we have to make sure of if there's something in there that it's not council's intent to pursue then what we leave for the future council is an interpretation that that could turn into another bylaw or something that would come to us so I think there's a difference between wordsmithing and a real issue about something council might be concerned with that's the only motivation I've got counselor matsen go ahead again more specifically to staff and and this is for the the cycling issue but it's it's for everything else in the OCP the fact that it's sort of mentioned as sort of a range of things that it could look like doesn't does that mean that they we have to change our bylaws etc to reflect those items or is this just again is it just sort of a list of things that it could be that the a future council will make a decision on uh through the chair uh yes, that is correct.

We have a motion on the floor uh all those in favor of the motion.

Any opposed? Looks like everybody except for the mover and second or so.

It's uh defeated.

Do you have another motion?

Council. Um table of maps uh maps, uh, which I think is on page 12, 13.

Um, we have two maps for the future uh pedestrian uh and we have two maps for the future cycling.

Uh we don't have a species at risk map.

Um I couldn't find the environmental services map and parts and positives map 15, not 17.

Sorry, is that so the motion is the clearly um I I'm confused with the the maps when I couldn't find um the ones uh that it said and um for example you got right in front of you map 15 which on the table is map 17 and I don't think I could find species at risk map.

The staff go ahead through the chair, uh yes, there is a species at risk map.

It's map 13. Yeah, and council may wish to note that we have exhausted our budget for the official community plan.

So any future mapping changes will require additional budget so you have a motion then uh you know if I guess if you've um obviously the mapping please the motion is to clean it up the map tabling the map table if you um sorry let me try and find the page for you again sorry okay so um we can see that on uh are you guys on the map table whatever can you see it so future pedestrian map is there twice future cycling map is there twice so the okay thank you um yes so we are um there have we've had some glitches from converting a couple of these things from converting from uh the InDesign program into PDF so yeah, I see that through through through the chair, we um we don't need a resolution for this this.

This is something that staff will just take care of.

Thank you.

Um, I would like to um uh staff, you know, it's great that we've got a map for the future pedestrian and the map for the future uh cycling.

Would a map for the um the transit routes um is do there any merit for having that in the OCP as well through through the chair, that is something that um we may uh refer to um the transportation master plan.

Again, any more mapping will require more budget.

So and council have to approve additional funding for these additional changes.

Yep, point taken.

I think it should be on the transformation master plan.

Thank you. My my next point is um um with the history of U Oil.

Uh that's on page 28.

Okay. Uh of that section of U Oil.

Um just let me get to it.

The history of UL.

Um it's it's more than a colonial settlement.

Um, V oil had a very significant industrial um contribution to the region.

Uh we had a fish processing plant uh at uh uh uh on by Mr.

Todd. You know, that was so productive, so amazing that it uh fed um uh the Italians during their 1947 famine.

Um we had the plywood mill we have uh view oil was the source of drinking water for the for the navy uh we had a network of lime kilns uh and production brickworks uh yes indeed we have farms dairy and uh avatars so um in fact we were also the uh one of the first highways there to and from the mala from downtown Victoria so you know the the information that um uh we speak of um I think if we could take out the portion of the Sanit's portion i.e.

Craigflower schoolhouse and put get more recognition for our history um I I think uh and I would be happy to assist but um I think we should be proud of our history and make note of uh its contributions to the region right from day one um furthermore um what we're lacking is historical photographs um we've done some great jobs of putting pictures of um businesses and uh like Admirals walk but I would also recommend that we have historical pictures to really illustrate our pride in um in view oil so that's uh my motion that we would improve the historical section remove the portions about uh with sandwich and um uh put in um uh archival photos we have secondary no one cares about the history well it's you know if if I oh obviously we don't have a secondary won't we'll move on do you have any more portions of it?

I do okay um so my my question is uh to staff um on page 48 uh there was uh the reference to stacked development what is that uh uh are you able to provide me with the digital page number, Councilor Rogers?

Okay page 48, yes and could you repeat your question?

Um yes uh what's the meaning of stacked development uh which policy um I'm going to page 48 standby okay um okay yeah it's item it's policy C on page 488 C enable the provision of variance of light industrial development by establishing um greater flexibility in the design and configuration of the buildings such as exploring opportunities to support stacked development um so multiple store multiple stories sorry what's nine yeah multiple stories and and end uses so what that means is uh as council may recall that uh the OCP designation for the Western Gateway Corridor supports buildings up to six stories.

So looking at um a mix of uses in in multiple stories.

Okay. So given that we have multiple stories, you know, it is a very confusing term, but now that I know, I don't know if we need a glossary of terms, but I sure as heck didn't know what it is.

And I would challenge anyone else if they knew.

But um anyway, it seemed um quite confusing.

I don't know if I need to make a motion.

It's um I think I fail at that one anyway.

Uh page 65. Sorry, just mean um make sure I've got it right.

Uh how is it on it?

Uh yeah, I know.

I think that might be sorry.

This is five for me.

Yeah, I know. Oh, okay, pardon me.

Um, no, pardon me, 52.

Page 52 at the top.

Um page 52, rapid transit and frequent transit uh services are the two types of service.

If we could um I would move that uh we add uh BC Transit or uh Victoria Transit is the second definition uh for frequent transit service, um the second one being as as well as the weekday um uh times that you speak you note there um Monday to Friday.

Um Victoria Transit also lists as frequent service Saturday and Sundays and running 20 minutes or better with a target of 15 minutes during peak Saturday times.

So if we yes uh we get a second or staff maybe Steph go ahead and guide it.

Sorry, go ahead, Leah.

Thank you, Chair Brown.

Um these definitions come directly from BC Transit in terms of how they define rapid transit and frequent transit within their network.

Yes, I know, and that's where I took it because that was the Monday to Friday.

Uh, but we've done what we have done is omit the um what BC Transit's definition of frequent service is for the weekends.

So what um what they had and have is the definition of frequent service for Saturday and Sundays.

So uh you've done Monday to Friday, but um my motion is to include clarity uh for what frequent service is for the weekends.

Well, the the reason the reason being is that um you for example, the the number 46 bus only does Monday to Friday.

It has no service for Sundays or said for weekends.

And so it it may be that uh a bus service doesn't qualify because while they had met the weekday service, they didn't meet the weekend service, like it's hourly.

So it it is a uh a critical definition.

Um I guess the relevance is that um you know when we when we think of frequent service, then we should um you know be fully um aware of what uh transit defines both the weekday and weekends.

I don't know if this is part of the OCP.

It seems to be if some people are looking for um schedules, they should be looking it up.

I think we're going way above and beyond the uh I'm sorry to say that uh interject, but uh no, it's fine.

If I if I may, you know your point's well taken, but staff have have felt it was relevant enough to include in the OCP on page 52 and staff just add that uh or director Taylor or go ahead.

Thank you, the chair.

We are the definitions in the way is coming directly from easy transit.

So um revising their definitions or how they define rapid transit, frequent transit that doesn't align with theirs, then it there's there's misalignment.

So um is it it is a challenging one.

If we want to be um, you know, if we're gonna have it in the plan, if staff felt it was relevant and and necessary to have in the plan, then the information should be complete.

Second.

Second by counselor Madsen.

No, he's not.

No. So are you withdrawing your motion?

No, no. I guess it's obviously no secondary that we are.

We're not going to do it.

Okay. We're just being consistent.

Okay. Page 73. So page 73 is um with respect to um the identifying the areas that um uh may apply for you know be applicable with the ALR and staff provided a list of ALR properties one of which was Little Road uh and the unnamed sorry the unnamed park um next to Eagle Creek and um um the the phrase there's a sentence that says the town could consider excluding these parcels from the ALR in the future as they no longer serve the intended purpose of the ALR designation however no immediate action is planned this is contrary uh to staff's um uh further recommendation on page 153 on food security where staff are recommending that food security and urban arc agriculture on public owned lands um is supported staff any we have an inconsistency and I would much rather that uh my motion is that we support the food security aspect um and the motion and strike this sentence.

Well, it's it remove little road, if you like from from from that um list of ALR properties.

Go ahead, so through through the chair, thank you for that question.

So I this map is identifying what properties within the town are designated ALR.

Council may wish to note that a few of the larger parcels are parks.

So View Royal, V Royal Park, as well as uh we have um up against I guess the the the border with Sanich uh near the Chil Chil uh not Chilco uh high the Highland Highland area.

And um we have a few uh parcels that are between um Watkiss and EN Rail Trail.

The um the way the policy, yeah.

So the way the the um it says the town could consider excluding it says these parcels perhaps that's a bit too um uh can't think of the word right now, but just maybe maybe it's it needs to be a little bit softer um to um or it's or we can also just remove that too if it's um if it is contradictory to uh the food security section, but just uh the food security section, I mean it is uh talking about the entire town, not just the ALR lands.

It's it's it's uh and uh uh so staff staff could go either way on on this one, depending on what council wishes to do.

No, it it members, um, food security is uh continues to be a major issue as you we can appreciate the the gasoline prices are bringing food over from the mainland and and the challenges of fertilizer to grow our own food.

We need to do everything uh possible to be self-sufficient.

Um so uh the the whole proposal of the food security later on on um in the next section um is is very laudable um on page one fifth 153.

So um I would uh suggest that you know let's let's um let's encourage the uh the food security aspects where we can with the ALR that we have.

And um if um you know that that's I think uh higher and best use and and um you know quite critical.

So was that is that a comment or is that a motion?

Well, I guess as as staff saying they appreciate that there's a uh there's a contradiction um of suggesting we take it out and and uh suggestion that we uh keep it and grow on it.

So it's um uh I think council may wish to take an interest in and what would they uh prefer to do is food security of any importance to this council.

Sorry, to staff. Do we need a motion on or can yeah?

So through the chair, yes, a motion would be required.

Uh I think it's um also important to note some of the ALR our land um our are designated parks, so Chil Chilco Park, um Uroyal Park, Marlar Park.

So at the very least we could at least uh strike, so the motion would be maybe just to strike Little Road, is that has the most agriculture use because it's right adjacent to um Sanich's ALR.

So that might be the here's my motion, folks.

Remove Little Road unnamed park um from page 72's list of ALR.

Um and it it does well, we can't remove it because it is.

Go ahead, Councilor Lemon, please.

Yeah, I'm of all of our parks that are within the ALR, Little Road is of course because there is some future potential, who knows, um there.

But I'm wondering how how the other parks got into ALR.

Like I like I see three dots for Little Chilco Park.

So it's uh it used to be farmland.

Used well the whole area then would be farmland.

So it's it anyway.

You don't know, they just are they are they're ALR land at Little Chilco Park and Little Whatever Park.

It's amazing some of the lands that are uh ALR and some you think would be, and even Victoria and I was looking at putting green space on top of the Johnson Street Parkade to put uh farming up there so that's food security.

So whatever, so whatever whatever counselor, since I've got the mic, um councilor Rogers is speaking to I support, unless this is not what he's saying, I support keeping Little Road in the ALR because there is perhaps a future there of some kind of environmental farming, um teaching place.

Sorry, so is that is that a new motion or is that a good idea? No, no, that's nothing. Okay.

I'd like to I'd like to hear from staff base.

Okay, staff, please, if you can clarify and we've got us moved on here, that'd be great.

Sounds good. Uh through the chair.

Uh just to clarify.

So um I do not recommend uh remove removing little road unnamed park from this list because what this list is doing is just identifying the lands um within the ALR.

The um so I don't recommend doing that because Little Road Park is is in the ALR, and that's what this list is uh summarizing.

The next paragraph around the town could consider excluding these parcels from the agricultural land reserve in the future as they no longer serve the intended purpose of the agricultural land reserve designation.

However, no immediate action is planned.

Um in that sense, I mean it is fairly um open-ended, and at the end of the day, it will be up to council if they wish to submit an application to the AA ALC.

Uh so um, but if if if council wants, we can add in, we can incorporate um, we can say include these parcels, like accept little road on Main Park, but then at the same time too, uh sorry to interject, but so you're suggested keeping it as is, and at some point, because it's a living document, we could change it if we so choose down the road.

Is that correct?

Leave, sorry, uh leaving it as is, and at some point because the old it's a it's a living document at some point in the future we could change it.

Is that is that correct or not?

Absolutely. And I mean we can even make the town may consider, right?

Rather than say could, can say may consider to soften it a little bit too, if that's helpful.

Ms. Rogers?

Thank you. I would yeah, indeed, may consider is good.

And if we could add the words um um, but of being aware that this is inconsistent with um um food security uh policy on page one.

And I think it's it's real is relevant.

You gotta be able to draw when when somebody looks at this, they may forget that um there's a a contrary position in this OCP.

And so that should be defined in this sentence, you know, that it is um people should consider the food security uh policies later on in the OCP.

That's there were there's three staff recommendations here, and we've dealt with number one uh to death, I think.

Uh we have uh can I get a motion to move uh staff recommendation two and three, please, on the I I I'm sorry, I do have some more motions.

Okay, sorry, go ahead.

So Bill dealing with number one then.

So um my my other um motion is on uh page eighty-six.

I think I've got that right.

Um okay, this is um well just go scroll down, you find eighty-six.

Uh this is seven three four, no, seven three five accessible accessibility and housing.

And it's policy B.

So are we there.

Through the chair.

Um my apologies, counselor Rogers.

Can you repeat the comment the question comment?

I've been multitasking here.

Sure, yeah, yes.

Um on page 86 or section seven three five, accessibility and housing, uh B, policy B, I guess.

Yes. So the achieved 10% of units.

So um in reading the recommendations and uh in the survey, the public survey, um, I was struck by the number of individuals that were um recommending that it uh be increased to 20%.

So can you staff can you give us uh some thoughts of um what um the merits of increasing it from 10% to 20% so through through the chair, the um I think there is a level of um sort of being realistic of what can be achieved with respect to the economics.

The and um and just and economics and then also the demand.

The 10% of the units is is a sort of a comfortable benchmark for for achieving that.

And um and especially in um and in below market units, I it is important for council to know as well that um the supportive housing units and many of the BC housing units um are you know meets some level of accessibility.

Council may also secure um could you know could could work with the developer to go above and beyond the 10 percent.

Um but this percentage is what is a feasible request or a a feasible amount as part of new development.

Okay, thank you.

Um members, I was just wanting to reflect and and uh give us pause to consider what the the public had been suggesting to us.

And um I don't know if anyone is interested in in um responding to that.

You've heard from staff.

I won't make the motion if you've heard now that I've just conveyed the public's information to you about uh their authority that we should increase the accessibility in housing.

I leave that to you for your for you to make a motion.

I'd be happy if we just got the 10 percent since we've been trying to for 10 percent for a long time okay thank you want to keep it at 10 all right okay so um staff one of the things that in the the OCP what concerns me about um you know the you know because we've had um the housing needs assessment and and what they're recommending you know um many thousands of units and um but i don't know whether what i'm gonna say is part of the transportation section of the OCP or part of the transportation master plan but um you know somehow it seems to me that um view would be wise to do um uh routine uh computer ai simulations to determine uh whether the um the viability of our roads um is still uh successful that in other words it doesn't go to level silver level service F failure um and that we're still going to be uh so we will not be adversely affecting you know movements of goods services residents so was is that something that would be in the transportation plan or is that it would be okay so um that answers my question gee i don't know if you do you guys understand what I'm suggesting that we need to understand if the development is going to hit gridlock and we're gonna be counterproductive counter successful okay and hopefully that would be something that the regional trans transportation Service uh you know mayor Tobias would be also uh assessing.

Okay. Then I will um no I I won't, I won't quit, but I will also remind you that section 824, regional traffic and resident needs isn't just resident needs.

That section, you know, the regional traffic is resident and business needs.

Our businesses need to succeed, our businesses need to have their clients come, our businesses need to have uh goods and services delivered to them.

So when we just talk about residence needs, we're just being, you know, um looking at ourselves for ourselves.

But if our businesses are going to succeed, then they're gonna have to have uh that.

But I won't bother making a motion.

That is just something that should be in there.

Residences and businesses.

Okay.

That's a motion I could have.

Well, would you like to make the motion, Mr. Councillor Madsen?

Okay.

Okay, move by Councilor Madsen, second by uh well, I'll second it, and this was section eight through four of on paid.

You want to just clarify the motion uh quickly, please?

Oh, yes. So the the motion would be to um um acknowledge and and uh include residences and businesses in that uh policy.

Any further discussion? If not, I'll call a question. Yeah, Councilor McKenzie, go ahead.

Just want to check whether staff is um okay with that.

Uh through the chair, thank you for that question. And uh that would be a simple change for staff to make.

Well, question all those in favor, any opposed? Unanimous.

Well done. Thank you.

Thank you, Ron.

All right. Ron, I want you to move the next motion, okay.

So further on page 93, um, is the 831, and we see the uh six bullets there, right?

Okay. On that same point.

So which 93. And the policy is 831 general, and they're below the general, uh, there's a hierarchy, a modular hierarchy.

The top being the foundational access, pedestrians, emergency personnel, equipment, that makes sense.

But and also the mobility makes sense.

However, I would suggest to you, and Councillor Matson, you just made the point, um, that number five, the economic backbone of this community, the movement of goods and services for our businesses and for our residents, should be not number five next to low priority, it should be up at the top, at least number two.

Because you want Council Matt, that would be contrary to what you're saying.

You say that residents and try and the goods and services and and so forth is important.

However, it's suggesting it's going to be way down at the bottom uh next to low priority, and it's not that it's there, it doesn't be that's low priority.

Well, it didn't know you see, in terms of when we when we are you know dealing with our modular systems and the movement of people, you see, it should be the movements of people and goods through view oil and so indeed foundation is great transit is great you know psyching mobility is great but really you know no one's gonna succeed our businesses will fail if they're gonna not to have the um uh the recognition that they deserve to get um the chair please by me go ahead uh uh mayor I think uh counselor rogers I appreciate um uh some of the things that you're bringing up but I think when we start debating the order of uh you know a notional list I think we're saying staff's done a pretty good job of getting us to where we're at and I don't think that list is going to be interpreted to anything else so I would appreciate it Chair if Councillor Rogers has any more recommendations that they be probably not as granular as that one yeah with if I may respond well hang on hang on on the point of order can we uh take a vote on the point of order um do we need a second or sorry stuff uh point on a point of order we have to have a motion correct is that correct no no okay that's fine it's just a friendly comment okay and yeah and I'm uh sure I'll comment too I tend to agree we're um digging so deep into the and through the weeds here that um I don't know um there must be an easier way I don't know if uh um listing all these things i i in advance rather than debating each and every one is uh um well uh tiresome like i'm sorry lack of another word it is it is i know i know it is it is tiresome it is granular no i know but it is it is important and you know and you know when when you have something again like uh uh mayor to bias mentioned earlier when you have something in the OCP it's it's there and it's gonna come back and haunt us you know for and unless we recognize these little nitty gritty details um and and put the proper perspective on on this as we've just done with Council Mr.

I think if something if something haunts us and it comes back to us in the future and it's seriously haunts us then that's the time and it's it's not easy to change it after the fact.

However it can be done I know it's onerous task it's an expensive task but only if it's really really haunts us again to me we're just digging way too deep way too nitty-gritty uh way too wordsmithy um uh I think we have to move on sorry I'm sorry Council Rogers but in some respect by bringing and it's nothing wrong with bringing motions to the floors and multiple motions to the floor but however it's a lot easier on staff it's a lot easier on council it's a lot easier on people watching it's people attending to at least have have a list it's just uh and to keep flipping back and forth back and forth amongst the pages to me is just um uh I don't know it's just uh it it's it's hard to follow up sorry yes I'm just just a quick I mean most of these things are inconsequential they don't make a difference to the OCP they're just wordsmithing or i uh i don't want so i mean if you have something of really of significance like there's a major problem bring that up but these things aren't worth bringing up yeah and and i think you know uh these these are things that are indeed i feel that are important um and you know i want to make this this occur as comprehensive and and as you know as um accurate as possible and um you know that's that's that's my point anyway allow me i've got a few more just to do map 15 i've given you a copy of map 15 yes we've all got a copy of map 15 and on the map 15 um the it has shown uh a number of trails roads um that um it's identified those roads and trails um i've given you uh and staff a copy of what's missing on the roads and trails and uh i wonder if staff could make a comment please thank you thank you yeah so through through the chair so the the the trails that we are identifying on this map are actually um municipal municipal owned trails so not um statutory right of ways uh easements deer trails like they're actually um municipal owned trails that we maintain so we won't be including trails on this map, if we're they're not municipal owned trails um as part of the parks and trails master Plan, we will dive into that a little bit further, and we can identify current and future trails.

We would do that through a needs assessment.

But anything that is not owned or maintained by the town will not be included on this map.

Yes, and thank you, uh Chair Staff.

My point is that well, you have identified um trails on roads, right?

Like Admirals and Haliwell, you know, those the uh the blue lines, uh local trails are on roads.

It's got Glantana, it's got um Admirals, Hallowell.

The blue, those uh lines are on roads.

And just like it's on the road of Watkins Way and Telcott, it's on Chancellor.

So I I um I wonder if staff can in all around the different roads in around View Royal Park.

So if these you know trails, uh I'm so I'm confused about the definition that staff have of trails, if they also include roads.

Through the mayor, uh sorry, through the chair, uh we uh it's not just um like soft surface trails, it could also be hard hard surface trails.

Um in terms of the trails that follow the roads.

Uh I will go back to um we'll have a take a look at our GIS, our data uh and uh and figure out what's what's going on there and if they are considered trails, uh I think yeah, I think the answer to Councillor Rogers' question is that we'll take this back and uh we will have a look at that data and uh any uh we'll see what kind of adjustments we might be able to make.

I and I can certainly appreciate um if if trails are are providing a connection to the EN.

Well, obviously Kislinberry would be an excellent trail.

Uh I can appreciate Talcott being a trail because that's a but Erskine Lane is also a trail that would go to the Galloping Goose.

So we and I your point's well taken.

Obviously, we don't want to have the bridge that's in Sanage that does connect one point of view to another, but that's in Sanage.

Um I just illustrate that um, you know, because it's something that our residents use.

And we are indeed missing some trails in the Choko area that connect between parks.

So it's um if if you would like me to assist at a later date, I'd be happy to.

Uh we have Love Story across the way.

Um we have um the Choco Tunnel uh that children illustrate in that's since been uh re revitalized.

You know, this is arts in View Royal.

And I would make a motion that we play we include photos of the arts in View Royal are that we have spent money on and we support you have seconder second I'll second that second with counselor you want to motivate I mean well um we do have an arts policy we do have a fabulous um you know uh uh artist across the way um love story it's called and under at the uh um uh no elementary school the yeah Ian and Trussell and the Choco tunnel so there are three pieces of art and only three but three photographs uh that would showcase this in the OCP I think um shows our commitment to arts policy and and hopefully our drive to an art center do you have any if there's room if there's room it at least one piece of art whether it's the wall or the or the uh underpass on Helmkin um if it could be fit in and uh I think that would be lovely could add the midnight Marauders graffiti too but no I think those two those two are good uh good yes three so we have a motion on the floor three I'm confused with the motion right now because Councilor Rogers talking about three and counselor lemon is talking about one so how about between counselor Rogers and Councillor rogers and council lemon why don't we pick one of them because we're pretty laid out here.

Why don't we pick one of those and direct staff the wall to include it the wall love story happy with that one okay thanks chair good thank you so we're just dealing with the motion to to include the uh the fancy wall down here called love story as part of it uh yeah I don't know what it's called but I really like it anyway all those in favor anybody opposed no it's unanimous thank you my last motion and oh my um I know mayor toias we talked about um um leveraging development for dead end roads no lane no would you like to hear it mayor to bias I don't I think that could be done outside of the OCP councilor Rogers agreed yeah yeah I think that's uh okay thank you okay we got uh three staff recommendations we've uh both of them two and three okay moved by councillor matts and second by councillor McKenzie um with with amendments oh we already dealt with that that's that's yeah so that's that's no no hang on there's three three recommendations we've already dealt with number one we got number two and number three to to pass yeah moved all three okay um all the question all those in favor yep anyone just clarification so no I'm I'm sorry hang on a second anyway if we were moving um the final draft is that with the motions had been supported by council today yes we yes yeah of course did we say that as we already passed them a while.

We passed them or or didn't pass them, or we didn't get a second or for them all. So we've dealt with number one.

As amended. We've we just moved them.

We moved all. We moved all three because that covers everything.

No, well call a question.

All in favor? Any opposed?

See? Okay, thank you.

Can we go to departmental update, please?

Mr. Summerville.

Uh, thank you, Chairman Brown.

Uh, before you this evening is a departmental overview, which covers the period the last week of April and the first three weeks of May.

Move receipt by Councillor Madsen, seconded by Mayor Tobias.

All those in favor.

Any opposed? Unanimous.

Okay, portfolio reports.

Uh it looks like you're up first, Mayor Tobias.

Thanks, Chair. Uh, just two quick points.

One is I want to thank um the staff for getting us through another tax season, and I'm sure they're already prepping for um the election in the new council.

So um thank you for um that the for feedback, even though we had a bit of a tax increase.

I didn't really see as many emails as I had in the past, uh, comparatively, because I think they're looking at other things on that tax notification, like the CRD cost, the school tax, and everything else that are cumulative.

Um, which brings me to my point.

Um that as representative on the CRD, one of the things that I'm going to be pushing, including a bit of uh lessons learned for the term for those folks that aren't running again, like myself, um, uh, we'll have an opportunity to discuss with the chair some of the things that maybe we hadn't done.

One of the things I don't think I've been successful enough at is looking at affordability uh in in the lenses of all of the things that we take into consideration because they add up.

It's uh it's almost uh double the amount of our municipal taxes.

If we were to take uh you know the CRD tax off of our tax bill, it would be half of what it is really now.

Um there's also a different way of doing things, and certainly this council has been informed on the IPD process for building the RCMP building.

There's new ways to um to build things out, even if they're done in phases.

Um recently you'll probably see the news and the estimated cost for infrastructure replacement and all municipalities across Canada is absolutely staggering.

Um, you know, Victoria and particularly View Royal being fairly new and incorporated uh since '66 on, where C or D started.

Um of the cities and towns are hundreds of years old.

Uh and anybody just read the news in Calgary and you can see some of the challenges they're having just with water right now and and uh and infrastructure.

So uh two of the things I'll be bringing up uh for my lessons learned would be affordability, but not only in the decisions that we make, but also how can we encourage our staff to accept a little bit more risk tolerance and maybe a project laid out over a number of years um so that that it's phased correctly, delivers the services when we need.

Um, but just to have another lens about maybe another way of doing things that would lessen the shock uh with the expense to the taxpayer thanks chair that's all I have great thank you very much uh you know protective services which includes uh youth I just got one thing to talk about that's the uh foundry uh which comes under the umbrella of Thrive Canada um they've got a place a location now on uh Carlow Road they've got shovels in the ground uh it's gonna be an amazing amazing facility the staff is paid for by the province and the province kicked in my numbers may be wrong but I believe they kicked in seven million towards the building of the new building but it's uh provides uh mainly youth counseling uh age 25 and under but also for their families and I think it's a great resource and it's quite central.

Uh I know it's in Langford but uh Carlow Road's not that far away it's close to bus routes and uh they also provide some uh peer counseling there as well so I think it's an excellent resource for all the West Shore uh all the way from uh well even to Suc and and and then to View Royal.

So um really happy that you got the shovels in the ground.

Uh the Ravi, the MLA for Langford was there.

I was there they gave me a nice t-shirt which is kind of cool.

I was gonna wear it tonight but Francis said no my wife said no wear a shirt and tie because you're chairing.

But anyway I digress.

But no it's a really good they got really good staff there and I'm really happy that they got um counseling for for mental health um family planning.

Oh, sorry, there's also going to be a daycare center there as well.

So young young people that have children already will have a place to leave them while they're getting the counseling they need.

I think it's uh long overdue and uh um gonna be well very well utilized for sure.

Anyways, I'm just happy about that.

And and that's my report.

Nothing else other than I think the fire department well they had their open house the other day, and that was on Saturday.

It was awesome.

Good turn out there.

Although they were kind of competing with the uh community association too.

I feel sorry because the fire fighters are giving away free hot dogs, and there's a guy trying to sell hot dogs at the other event.

But anyway, they're both good events, and uh uh you you yeah, sometimes they're just conflicts, but anyway, it's all good.

So thank you. Uh Counselor Lemon, Arts and Library, please.

Happy to I see uh Mayor Tobias is up for engagement.

Uh just just uh uh just uh a couple of points.

One is uh thanking Kelsey for her work, uh and a reminder for council to get out to the constituents and encourage them to get on the health registry, whether the clinic plan goes ahead or not.

It's uh it's something that if they're not on the list and they don't get caught.

Um I've done a few um interviews uh with interest about the clinic and I just wanted to remind um council that uh I think it was just at the beginning of our term we lost a clinic which was in Eagle Creek and we lost 3,000 patient capacity there, as well as I learned today that this is just announced another clinic is closing in Langford.

Um I can't remember the name of it, but it's due to close in August.

Um so as much as we're making gains in some areas, we're also losing with doctors retiring and in other areas.

And it speaks to uh, I believe the expense of running a clinic as well.

And certainly when doctors retire, they're not being replaced or somebody, a new doctor isn't coming in to accept all those patients as well.

Um yeah, thank you, Chair.

Thank you for your report. Now, Counselor Lemmon for Arts and the Library, please.

Thank you, Chair.

Um library, the uh the search is well underway for a new uh CEO, that's chief librarian for the Greater Victoria Um Public Library System.

Uh the short board will be participating in uh short list interviews at the end of this month.

And uh so by early summer we'll have a replacement.

And uh in arts commission news, um the arts commission uh denied uh unanimously, although I I did recuse myself, um denied Bureau's request to go from tier one to tier two.

So that motion that request is dead in its tracks, it it will go no further.

Thank you for your report. Uh Counselor McKenzie, uh your report on environment, parks and recreation.

Yes. Um, so at the council meeting, it was already mentioned, but I'll say it again.

Uh, that September 12th, there will be a 60th celebration for the West Shore Parks and Rec Center.

So all the public is invited to attend that.

And I have a little bit more details on what's involved.

So yeah, there will be a family fun run, both 1K and 3K.

Uh, there'll also be live performances, there'll be a kids zone with bouncy castles, a dung tank, craft stations, and more.

There'll be food trucks, vendors, and also throwback pricing.

So on that day, you'll be able to use the fitness swimming and skating for the price they had 60 years ago.

So it's a good time to try it out.

Um, so there this month there's also going to be uh RAGM.

So June 18th, which is going to be the owner's group.

So Mayor Tobias will be at that along with the other mayors.

Uh and later in the month, we'll be having our strategic planning session for 2027 to 2031.

Uh finally, on in terms of the master plan, there was the latest draft was out for survey to the public for two weeks, and it was a little bit of a small window, but it's because uh we're a little bit behind in our timelines.

So uh it closed on June 4th, and the board expects to see it soon and it should be ready for adoption.

This is the sixth draft.

So there's been a few of them, and I think we're almost there.

So yeah, thank you.

Great, thank you for your report. And we move on to uh planning and development, counselor uh massa, please.

Yeah. And again, I just wanted to comment on the the OCP and the process.

Um kudos to staff for that for the work you've done for the OCP committee uh and all their hard work.

And I I gotta give some special thanks to our our mayor.

I mean, when we first were hit with Bill 44, etc.

Um, I mean, we could have just sat there and said, Whoa, is me and not made changes, and we could be in a position that Esquamo was in where people were building 10,000 square feet on a pro property on a single lot and building monster houses.

But we had a process, uh residents helped, and and we came up with something that you know we were all happy with that we could live with.

Um the other aspect of this, and I don't want to speak badly about our prior, the prior process.

Well, I guess I will speak bad about the prior process.

The community some staff and didn't actually listen to council when it came to the things that we were concerned about, uh, which led to us not approving that OCP, and basically when this council came in, um disavowing it total.

So, but staff listened to counsel, uh put together a document that we can all be proud of.

Um, and so I just wanted to thank specifically thank staff for listening and for the the hard work you did.

And we've come up with something that as we've seen from the the surveys, although there's limited people applying, everyone was happy with what we're doing.

And council approved us unanimously, and so again, thank you, staff.

Thank you, Councillor Batson.

Can we move on to uh public works on transportation, please, Councillor Rogers?

Thank you.

Uh, yes, as you all know, the um uh Minister Highways continues to do the work on the uh bus and shoulder projects, and I I believe that's on schedule.

Uh one of the other things that we're um looking to from a regional perspective is um uh the province uh deciding on the bylaw for water DCCs.

Um that will be uh a very important document that will help fund um the billion dollars that we'll need to um improve the water systems and and all the all the works that uh development and expansion will um will bring upon us.

Um another regional uh initiative that uh started uh June 1st is the CRD's trail widening of the Gallup and Goose.

And um so um I gather um the uh Mr.

BC Hydro has closed a portion of the regional trestle um between Selkirk and uh Uptown as part of that expansion.

So um, and again, to um uh thankfully staff have embedded in the OCP um the whole expectation and hopes that that trail expansion of the Gallop and Goose will uh go along to view oil.

This emotion that council had made um uh a couple of years ago, and uh it's now begun in in Victoria, and hopefully eventually it'll come our way.

Um, a question to staff how is our um uh flood mitigation sea level rise report to coming along uh with respect to the other municipalities?

So through through the chair, um our report has is completed.

It is very, very technical, and it's will likely be brought forward in a in a in a form that the public can digest when we bring forward when we start talking about phase three of the OCP and looking at our development permit areas.

But bringing forward the draft report right now will be very confusing.

It's very technical, and it wouldn't serve any benefit at this time, but it will when we come when we move forward with phase three.

Yes, thank you.

Um, folks, if you're interested in what that would look like, uh the city of Naimo is doing the same thing right now with the public.

And uh it's very interesting how they've uh been able to um bring it to a resident understanding of the options.

You move the house back, you put it on stilts, you build dikes, you know, there's four different options.

And uh one those are the things that uh we as a region have to look at for the portage inlet.

So uh and Dick Falk's um a good friend of uh of council for the longest time, he's now 90.

Well, he was young enough to take me down to his shoreline of portage and to show me the erosion that's happening on on the properties.

And we're standing right next to the Midwood pump station, and I uh and that's why I was curious to see how sea level rise and and storm surges and so forth uh will uh impact because uh staff have done an excellent job of warning us that we had got to invest in both the staff and the techniques, uh the expertise um to um uh so that we don't get into a major uh lawsuits and cleanups like comaks.

Yeah, so um very timely that Mr.

Folkes showed me um uh how his his property is disappearing.

Um uh I uh note in uh staff's report that the Transportation Master Plan Survey results are coming back to us.

Um I also appreciate staff's uh put uh um they minds at ease, hopefully, for uh view all residents who are adjacent to the Boardwalk Cambridge Motel, because when that goes down, the rats come out.

And uh we've we've seen instances of like uh of that in the role before, and thankfully Boardwalk has agreed to um bring in a rodent control to help lessen the impact.

The good news is that the vultures are flying around waiting for them.

Uh oh vultures, I meant birds, not politicians.

Okay, thank you for your report.

I don't think we have any new business, so uh we're into question period.

Anyone in the audience have any questions?

No, Donna, Mike, no.

Uh Carl, do you have any questions online?

Chair Brown, are you there?

It's just a few moments.

Sorry. I'm just refreshing the uh system to show if it's got any.

Um Chair Brown, no, we have no messages.

Okay, great. Thank you very much.

Get a motion to adjourn, please.

So moved by uh Mayor Tobias, seconded by Councillor McKenzie.

All those in favor, no opposed uh we're done thank you very much everybody thank you for coming