Email from C. & G. Lavoie, 285 Helmcken Road

From: Cathy Lavoie Sent: Friday, January 29, 2021 9:21 AM To: Info Address info@viewroyal.ca Subject: Public Hearing Feb. 2 2021

We are writing with regard to

Lot 1, Section 8, Esquimalt District, Plan 35505

We wish to register our oppostion to the proposed changes to the Official Community Plan and to the Zoning Bylaw.

1. We believe that changing the Official Community Plan to allow for six storey buildings would set a dangerous precedent.

• At the time that the Official Community Plan was created, the citizens of View Royal agreed on an acceptable maximum height for buildings at the intersection of Helmcken Road and the Old Island Highway. Given the footprint of the subject lot, six storeys are simply too high and too dense.
• In exchange for a 50% increase in the legal height of the proposed building, the developer is offering the possibility of an anchor tenant grocery store. If this anchor tenant is not found, or if a grocery store opens and then quickly closes again, it will be too late to regret allowing the higher building.
• If a six storey building is approved at the northeast corner, that will put pressure on the opposite, southwest corner for a similar change. Beginning at that corner and continuing west beyond the building that currently houses a Salvation Army store, that is a large area, all owned by the same person. If Council agrees to change the Community Plan for Lot 1, Section 8, it will be logical for the owner of the opposite corner to assume that Council might be willing to allow even greater buidling height and density on that much larger property.
• The area surrounding this intersection is still primarily residential. We believe that a six storey building would negatively affect the property values of adjacent residential properties and the right of their owners to privacy and quiet.

2. We are anxious about the effect of this proposed development on parking in the surrounding neighbourhoods.

• With a six storey building and a grocery store, a realistic number of parking stalls on the property must be a consideration. From our home at 285 Helmcken Road, we are daily witnesses to the lack of sufficient parking spaces at the development at 284 Helmcken Road (View Royal Square), directly across from Lot 1, Section 8. At the time that that property was approved by Council, the developer promised that there would be plenty of parking. This has never been the case, and vehicles are illegally parked in front of the neighbouring property at 286 Helmcken, as well as on Bessborough Road, every single weekday. Large delivery vehicles, including ones carrying dangerous cargo such as liquid nitrogen, visit the site regularly, and park either on the yellow lines in front of 286 Helmcken, or double parked beside 284 Helmcken.

In their deliberations on these proposed changes, we hope that Council will remember that promises made by developers are not always kept.

Sincerely

Catherine and Glenn Lavoie 285 Helmcken Road