Email dated September 1, 2020 from Clayton Hiles, Subject: 9 Erskine Lane

From: Clayton Hiles Sent: Tuesday, September 1, 2020 9:51 PM To: info@westurban.ca; Info Address info@viewroyal.ca; Mayor And Council Email mayorandcouncil@viewroyal.ca Subject: 9 Erskine Lane

Hello Westurban and View Royal Council,

My name is Clayton Hiles. I have lived at 4 Stoneridge Dr for 6 years. I can be reached at [contact information redacted]. I am writing to provide input on the proposed development on 9 Erskine Lane.

I appreciate the developer's dedication to improving the intersection at Erskine and Watkiss, especially the installation of a roundabout or traffic light. I also acknowledge that they will be required to provide sidewalks along the development frontage as part of the development. However, I have concern for pedestrian safety during the construction period. My wife crosses Watkiss from Stoneridge to Erkine on her walk to work every morning. This is already a very dangerous crossing for a pedestrian. I am concerned that obstructions and traffic from construction will only increase that danger. Does the developer have a plan in place that would allow for pedestrian traffic along the development frontage during the construction period?

Our family frequently uses the hospital trail to access the hospital (where my wife works), the bus loop, and the Galloping Goose trail. I support the developer working with the CRD to maintain public use of that trail. Alternatively, in order to maintain safe pedestrian access, the developer should be required to provide sidewalks from the development frontage on Watkiss to Hospital way.

Many residents also walk to Eagle Creek Village, which does not have sidewalks east of Stoneridge Drive. Given the size of this development it is likely that pedestrian traffic along Watkiss Way will increase. View Royal needs to work with the developer and the District of Saanich to ensure safe pedestrian access from the development to Eagle Creek Village.

Parking problems in the neighbourhood are acute. These problems have precipitated from previous developments providing insufficient parking (Stoneridge, 14 Erskine Lane, as well as the recent developments at 1900 Watkiss). The existing developments in this area have narrow road widths and no sidewalks, which makes street parking dangerous for pedestrian visibility. There is simply no more room for overflow parking from another development. View Royal must ensure that adequate parking is provided so that residents of the new development are not parking on nearby streets in the neighbourhood.

Noise and air pollution need to be minimized during construction. The disturbances due to blasting of 1900 Watkiss were considerable. The required blasting for the proposed development looks much larger by comparison. These disturbances are more important now that many people in the neighbourhood are working from home (including myself). One low tech way of mitigating the impact of blasting on the neighbours is to let us know when it will be happening (that way I won't run downstairs to see if someone crashed their car into the house).

I understand that $1.3M in developer fees will be charged and that a portion of that will go towards parks (while I assume the balance will go towards sewer, water, transportation, etc). View Royal needs to find a way to create a public kids park in conjunction with this development, particularly for pre-school aged children. Currently Eagle View Elementary serves as the de-facto park for the neighbourhood. However, the school is not accessible during school hours. Furthermore, COVID has complicated access to the school grounds. It is not appropriate for the school board to be saddled with the cost of maintaining a park for the neighbourhood, an alternative is needed. A small playground was installed at 1900 Watkiss, but that is not open to the public.

Finally, I have concerns about the height of the buildings. The proposed 5 and 6 stories are considerably higher than the surrounding neighbourhood, including 1900 Watkiss. Coupled with the fact that the property naturally sits higher than the surrounding landscape, and I fear that the proposed buildings will dominate the viewscape.

I appreciate that this neighbourhood is growing and that more housing is needed in View Royal. I also believe that the residents of the neighbourhood should have a voice in how the neighbourhood develops. Please take my comments into consideration.

Regards,

Clayton Hiles and Dawn Woods