Attachment A

Dear Mayor and Council,

We respectfully request a Development Variance Permit to allow the ground-floor commercial space within the development to be occupied by medical and health-service uses without requiring a minimum portion of the commercial area to be dedicated to a café use.

We understand fully that the recent rezoning of the commercial space included 74m2 for a cafe. It is not easy for us to request a variance for this space regarding that spot. Since the rezoning has occurred, we have successfully put two spaces of the commercial unit under contract. Both a dentist office and a physiotherapist have signed on. Both integral parts of the community bring needed services to the community. The dentist office that was located on Eltham has shut down for 4 years and this new office will provide a needed replacement. The physiotherapist will also benefit greatly to a community where that type of care is used by all generations.

We have reached out to an enormous amount of coffee shops from Vancouver Island and the mainland as well. This search has not been limited to the months since the rezoning, but for years up to it. While looking for a market, it also included cafes. We felt that if a grocer wasn’t successful, that a cafe on a larger scale perhaps would be able to fill a portion of the space. There was no luck in achieving a deal with any of them.

A common theme to why they would not move forward was primarily based around two concerns. The first, is that they did not see the required foot traffic to support it. They acknowledged more units were to be sold in the building but still well under their business model. The second point was the access from customers coming from the west could not be achieved easily as they had to turn down Helmcken and either roundabout back or turn off Helmcken to the right and come back to Island Highway. They felt this would be problematic for easy access. The potential cafe buyers just could not make the economics work.

The coffee shop across the street is a different business model with a much different economic setup. We have hoped since the start of this project that the market space could have thrived there. Sadly, that was just not the reality for the space regardless of how long and how hard we tried to make it one. Our hope is that we can fill that small remaining space with an entity that would still benefit the community at large. A potential veterinary clinic in this space would serve the many pet owners of View Royal. Pets have always been an enormous part of people’s lives and have only increased over these past years.

As mentioned above, since commencing marketing efforts for the commercial space, we have received significant interest from medical and health-service operators. In regards to prospective purchasers, including physiotherapy, dental, and veterinary businesses we can provide supporting contracts as part of this application.

The requested variance would not alter the size, scale, appearance, or intensity of the commercial component. The commercial space would remain fully occupied by neighbourhood-serving businesses that provide valuable services to local residents. Medical services generate consistent daytime activity, create employment opportunities, and contribute positively to the local economy while producing minimal noise, odour, traffic impacts, or other nuisance effects.

The proposal is consistent with the objectives of creating complete and walkable communities by providing convenient access to healthcare and professional services within the neighbourhood. Allowing flexibility in the use of the commercial space will help ensure the premises remain occupied and active, reducing the likelihood of vacant storefronts while responding to demonstrated community demand.

The requested variance reflects current market conditions and will improve the viability of the commercial component. The proposal maintains the intended commercial character of the project while allowing the market to determine the most appropriate commercial use.

We look forward to having the entirety of this space utilized to provide life and vibrancy not only to this corner but to View Royal over all.

We respectfully request Council's support for this Development Variance Permit application.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Sengara Royale Ventures Corp.