Letter dated February 5, 2023 from C. Blanchard, View Royal Climate Coalition, Re: OCP Restart Plan

Feb 5, 2023

To: Mayor and Council, Town of View Royal From: View Royal Climate Coalition

Staff is recommending for Council’s consideration to restart the OCP update and complete the final phase of this project during the Feb 7, 2023 council meeting. Within that staff report, it says “There are areas where the OCP is working very well for the Town, but there are also areas that needed to be reviewed and updated to ensure the Plan is consistent with the adopted Parks Master Plan (2017), Community Climate Action Strategy (2022), Housing Needs Assessment Report (2020), and Land Economics Study (2021).” Missing from the list of plans to which the OCP is being revised to align with, is the Transportation Master Plan technical update of 2016.

We strongly encourage council to choose the alternative and not consider the OCP complete until the following items have occurred:

As the Westshore baked in, pre-approved developments (including those in View Royal) are sure to create unknown pressure on transportation corridors in View Royal, an expedited review of the action items of the transportation master plan (TMP), last updated in 2016 to support the 2011 OCP, should be completed, with Issues to be addressed including: a. Parking b. Ingress/egress from developments, existing, in progress and proposed c. Flow of traffic at peak times d. Emergency vehicle access e. Plans for greatly improved public transit f. Vehicle counts g. Pedestrian safety h. Traffic counts to identify pinch points and safety hazards and feedback for BC Transit planning
Include BC Transit’s plans to enhance Route #46 along Old Island Highway or a VR plan to advocate for this in BCT future planning. Transit supportive land use is critical. Is BC Transit being made aware of Westshore densification and growth and making all of the Westshore more accessible without transfers? How do residents of View Royal along Island Hwy, between Adams Pl and Helmcken ( the location of a proposed development of 300 apartments) access the rapid bus improvements all day with only am and pm service? What incentives could BC Transit offer riders from Westshore to the Base to take advantage of #46 to remove cars from that corridor?
Address the residents' concerns about the parking issues of adding laneway/carriage houses without sufficient parking. Bylaw would not be able to keep up with complaints of on street parking by residents, should that not be permitted.
Make traffic evaporation a priority by including transportation barriers to car use, such as narrowing, slowing roadways in areas where rapid bus runs
Develop canopy preservation policy
Identify within the OCP how planning within that document dovetails with the Community Climate Action Strategy;
A fulsome engagement with advisory committees on the draft OCP for their input, on their areas of expertise, as they see needs within the community, as a result of the suggested actions of the OCP
Remember the Community Satisfaction Survey of 2019, in which 93% of respondents felt that traffic congestion is a problem within View Royal, and 41% named traffic congestion/flow/safety as being by far the greatest concern.
See the results of the Drainage Master plan, possibly under review; review the Sanitary Sewer Master Plan and the implications to those systems of densification as proposed in the OCP
Fix existing problems before moving forward with OCP, a 10 year planning document. With the addition of more than 500 units (750 people) in the hospital neighbourhood already happening, the safety of those residents crossing Watkiss, Helmcken, TCH onramp and using the Galloping Goose, should already have been handled. Have the gaps in pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure of the 2016 TMP technical update been addressed? How is VR moving forward with the vision as stated in that document?
Rework the density formulas so they don’t require interpretation. Speak in terms of number of storeys not FSR, so everyone can understand the opportunities and obstacles.

For the View Royal Climate Coalition, the Climate Change tipping point has been reached, and “Implementing Actions” are essential for inspired action, transparency and accountability. Before anything further is done with the June draft of the OCP, the implementing actions of the May draft should be returned to the document. The 2011 OCP included “implementing actions” in each section. Without that, what is the way forward?

As an example: The very first one that was removed: ACTION LU1 Update the Transportation Master Plan to support the development of a connected network of walkable Neighbourhood Centres and Community Corridors.

Further noted in the June Draft OCP is the following: “Staff will update our community profile information once the entire 2021 Census data set is available”. There is some mention of 2021 census data, but reference to 2016 data is still within the document.

It is also suggested by staff that the next steps include holding open houses for community members to ask questions and provide feedback. Should this next step come to fruition, the public should benefit from the expertise of executive summaries as has been included in this staff report as well as comments or opinions of our elected officials. With the inclusion of the implementing actions, this document is approximately 250 pages of complex information. As members of the public, we would like to see a review of what the 2011 OCP stood for and what the proposed OCP stands for. Additionally, a next step was to refer the draft to adjacent municipalities and other agencies for feedback; has this occurred and what were those results? Are we blending all we know from that feedback, the development that has occurred, the land economics study, parks and sanitary sewer master plans, transportation goals, and the vision for View Royal with its distinct neighborhoods and its overall charm?

Thank you for this opportunity to share the View Royal Climate Coalition opinion of the requirements to ultimately approve an OCP.

Sincerely, Cathie Blanchard On behalf of View Royal Climate Coalition