Email from Reg and Diane Young regarding Invictus development
Opposition to the development due to traffic congestion on Burnside Road, safety concerns for residents, and perceived lack of transparency from the developer.
From: Reg Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2020 3:53 PM To: Mayor And Council Email mayorandcouncil@viewroyal.ca Subject: Invictus
Dear Mr. Mayor,
I am attaching a letter that is being circulated amongst residents of both View Royal and Saanich concerning this development proposal. As you are aware Burnside Road is far too narrow with little to no speed control at all to handle this size of a development. Burnside Road West was a rural road the has not been upgraded to present day volume requirements and in my opinion never should be as it is used for a highway by pass already. To ad 400 or so cars to this already congested rural road would be a disaster for residents of both Saanich and View Royal. I am more than tired of not being able to get out of my own driveway or into it. My wife has been honked at swore at and yelled at for simply slowing down to turn into our driveway. I personally have witnessed cars passing on the double solid line in front of my home and had cars tailgate me so close that I could not even see their headlights in the 30k zone in View Royal. This developer is telling everyone he is going to put in a left turn off Burnside onto Helmken but when asked where he was going to put the turn lane seeing as all the available land is in private hands with no one selling and even if they did their would I assume need to be zoning changes there is no response. To have a public meeting in Esquimalt the day after the plan has been sent to council is looking like its already a slam dunk and that is a strong rumor circulating. I know you are but one voice on council but I ask you to and council to really examine this development as it is not in the best interests of residents in either municipality.
Regards
Reg and Diane Young
Community Update: Invictus Development at Helmcken and Burnside
Happy New Year to all! We wanted to update you on events relating to the Invictus Development at Helmcken and Burnside.
Mr. Foord of Invictus invited the residents of Hidden Oak Townhouses to focus groups (2) in late 2019. Here he had his architect, planner, landscape architect and traffic consultant present a concept for the site. Good discussion occurred at these meetings BUT when we asked for the number of units they were planning for, they would not answer that question. We can therefore come to no other conclusion than they are not reducing the number of units, otherwise they would have been transparent with us. He did say he had changed from rental units to public ownership of the units. When we asked about engaging with the larger community, we were told they would be setting up an opportunity to engage with the larger community in the new year. It was our understanding engagement with the larger community would occur first then they would present to Council. We were wrong.
You may have received the attached invitation from Invictus to a meeting on WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15 at the Songhees Wellness Center. NOTE THIS IS THE DAY AFTER HE IS PRESENTING TO COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE!!!!!!!
On Friday January 10 we became aware of his intention to present to Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, January 14 (7 pm) therefore we do not have time to formally apply to Council to make our own presentation. Therefore, PLEASE send an email to Council (mayorandcouncil@viewroyal.ca) immediately indicating your concern about your inclusion after the fact in this very important issue for our community. IF you can come out on Tuesday night to the Committee of the Whole (7 pm) PLEASE come!! There will be time after Mr. Foord presents for the public to speak, I believe that is a 5-minute limit per person where we want to emphasize that the density of the project is too high for the community.
We are clearly not finished with this Developer and his intent to inundate our community with a large high-density project. We must remain vigilant and vocal or we will be forever dealing with our community morphing into something none of us thinks is appropriate.
Sent from my iPad
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking