Email from M. Semenoff, 295 View Royal Avenue
Resident objection to the 6-story building, advocating for maintaining a strictly residential vision for the corridor.
Proposed development at 298 Island Highway
From: Marcia Semenoff
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2020 10:50 AM
To: Info Address info@viewroyal.ca; Marcia Semenoff
Subject: Proposed development at 298 Island Highway
To whom it may concern:
I have lived at 295 View Royal Ave. for over 20 years. During that time, Craigflower Rd. went through a major redevelopment, and instead of widening the road, traffic calming flower beds were put in place. Once the work was complete, the newsletter from the Town of View Royal talked about how the road had been returned to the residential road it had always been. This strongly indicated to me that the plan for View Royal was residential, not for large developments.
The 6 story proposed commercial/residential building for 298 Island Hwy, a block and a half from my house, does not fit that quiet residential vision that I believed the Town of View Royal was maintaining. I am vehemently opposed to such a large development in my neighborhood. If commercial space in buildings was a priority for Craigflower/Island Hwy, perhaps the road should have been widened to ease traffic flow, instead of narrowed with flower beds and decorative lighting.
View Royal Ave has always been close to a main road, but an area with only single family homes, it has always been a quiet, and almost secret location, with its winding country like roads. There have been several new condominium developments on Craigflower/Island Hwy, but none 6 stories high, and none with commercial space.
In my opinion, commercial space has historically not done very well in this area. Louie’s market closed; the Shar-Care market, which took over the space, closed; the corner store at the top of the hill closed; the medical building on the corner of Helmcken sat largely empty for many years, and the coffee shop open there, now, is not well utilized by the locals.
We already have the Thrifty’s mall, and the new Quality Foods mall within walking distance. Esquimalt, Colwood, and downtown are easily accessible by bus.
There are no 6 story buildings nearby. The added traffic from such a large number of residences seems excessive for a corridor already burdened with daily traffic jams. Let developments of this size happen in Colwood, and please keep to your vision of quiet streets in View Royal. Thank you,
Marcia Semenoff