Boomin in Victoria

There's a building proposal for  205 Quebec Street, 507 Montreal Street, and 210-224 Kingston Street in Victoria's James Bay neighbourhood coming to the Committee of the Whole on Thursday, November 21. This proposal first came to council in July 2023 as a 17 storey tower. Council sent it back with "a modified proposal that is more contextual to the surroundings, while retaining the approximate proposed number of homes and floor space ratio." The applicant did that, and the proposal came back again in July 2024 as a 14 storey tower that staff concluded "generally fulfilled Council's direction." Council narrowly moved it…forward… sideways… "directing consultation on the proposed OCP amendment". I have always thought this proposal was fine and deserved support. I still do. As I said in another  letter to council on this project: At the same time, Council's previous decision has delayed this project by an entire year. Even worse, as we all kno...

This is the letter I recently sent to Saanich Council regarding the Draft Quadra McKenzie Plan . It's been lightly edited, but the points haven't changed. Also, I have no idea why I can never see typos until after I hit the send button! The illustrations are all taken from the plan. Dear Mayor and Council, I just finished reading the entire Quadra McKenzie Plan and filling out the feedback survey. I very much appreciate the thoroughness and quality of the Draft Quadra McKenzie Plan document ; please pass on my appreciation to the staff who worked on it! Given that "pushback" has been in the news, I wanted to write to you directly as well. I live in Vic West, not Saanich, so I tend to reserve my land-use comments for City of Victoria issues. In this case, the Quadra Mckenzie plan is so central to the entire region, and I live so close to Saanich, that I wanted to respond. First, I am strongly in favour of the plan, including the shift of road space to transit and activ...

My wife, Irene, also shared her comments on the Victoria's 2025 Draft budget with the city. Some links: The engagement site The 2025-2029 Draft Financial Plan The 2025 Draft Budget Summary The October 24, 2025 Committee of the Whole Meeting Greetings, I’m a taxpaying homeowner and senior in Victoria and, having extensively reviewed the materials attached to the October 24 COTW, I want to congratulate Council and Staff on the fact-based Financial Plan & Budget that you’ve drafted. I am in general support of the Plan and Budget, and I have some specific points I want to share with you. Public Engagement Methodology I really appreciate that you are not just relying on letters and meeting attendance (which allows certain voices to dominate), but have included scientifically valid surveys and in-person engagements with historically under-represented groups in the engagements. I was particularly struck by the IPSOS survey finding that 50% put Housing as their top priority, while only...

The City of Victoria is soliciting input on the 2025 Draft Budget until Sunday, November 17. For what it's worth, here's the input I sent in. Dear Mayor and Council, Here are my comments on the 2025 Draft Budget. They are based on reading the Draft Budget Summary , the Draft Budget , and the Council Orientation presentation from the October 24 COTW meeting . My comments are structured as a set of observations, followed by a list of what I would recommend as city priorities, and some comments on specific projects. I would like to start, however, by expressing my appreciation for the way in which the budget is set out. I’ve lived in a number of cities over the years, and Victoria’s engagement materials are consistently among the clearest and most accessible that I have seen. That said, there are two areas that I think could be clearer: The Council Orientation presentation did a good job of explaining why capital budget costs are increasing (including the built-in 3% annual incr...

[Back in April, my wife, Irene, wrote this piece about Victoria's Official Community Plan (OCP) update . I thought it was insightful and wise, and she's graciously given me permission to post it here.] I’ve recently seen a number of people complain that the OCP engagement process is “biased”. But I think that people are confusing biases with constraints. When you go shopping for new appliances, and find out that all models with the features you need cost more than you wanted to pay, do you accuse the store of being biased? Or do you recognize that you are dealing with constraints? This OCP update is responding to a lot of constraints.  The most obvious constraint is new targets for increasing and diversifying our supply of housing.  The province has ordered Victoria to: Add 4,902 additional homes in the next 4 years; Permit at least 3-4 units on most residential lots, and up to 6 units on some, by June; Complete a standardized 20-year Housing Needs Analysis, and update ou...

Note On Thursday, May 16, Victoria's City Council will receive a Douglas Street Downtown Dedicated Bus Lane Update. For the central downtown section the report briefly presents options "A" through "F". Option "F" is recommended, and the report gives some additional detail. Personally, I think Thursday's decision is extremely important, and I put the following together in an attempt to organize my thoughts about report and the choices is presents. Unlike my other posts so far, I haven't even made an effort to be funny! This is pure geek. Consider yourself warned. Executive Summary There is a lot to like about the staff recommended Option F, Offset Dedicated Bus Lanes , and it may well be the best option, but the report does not provide enough information about the other options for Council to make an informed decision about which approaches best embody the city’s priorities. More detail is required, at least for options ...