Central Saanich residents are pushing back on plans for a proposed new housing development at 1934 Hovey Road which they believe violates the Official Community Plan (OCP).
The District OCP was adopted in 2023, after three years of extensive public consultation involving citizen advisory groups and consultants. It contains two parts: policy and land use planning (zoning).
“We are now facing the first test of the OCP, with this development proposal," said resident Sharon Glynn, in an email to Peninsula News Review on Jan. 16. "If approved, it will demolish half of a well-established small neighbourhood at the edge of Saanichton.”
Glynn is part of a group of residents who started an online petition opposing the development, which has now received more than 200 signatures.
According to the proposal presented to the council by Aryze Developments, the project includes building 197 units between Hovey Road and East Saanich Road.
Legion Manor and Aryze have entered an agreement for the construction of a new structure on 7551 East Saanich Road. It will be four storeys high with 57 units of housing for low-income seniors.
The developer plans to build a four-storey building with 130 rental units on 1934-66 Hovey Road. Of these, 10 per cent (13 units) will be available at a reduced rent for 10 years.
For weeks, Glynn and a group of neighbours have gathered around Brian and Josee Smith’s kitchen table to discuss how to prevent the proposed development from moving forward.
"You got an OCP that’s been recently revised, why change it?" Brian said during a group meeting on Jan. 17 held at their residence at 1974 Hovey Road.
For this group of petitioners, the Central Saanich Citizen Voices, their concerns are framed in terms of the use of language: alignment versus compliance.
The proposed project, they claimed, is non-compliant with the OCP’s general policy that new development should be “sensitive to its surrounding neighbourhood.”
They said according to the policy, “the highest density and intensity of redevelopment plans should be oriented toward the major roadways taking into consideration a sensitive transition to adjacent single-detached homes and retention of trees.”
The group argues, the proposal also does not comply with the zoning requirement outlined in the OCP because they are requesting to change the area to a multi-unit residential zone.
1934 Hovey Road sits on a residential – neighbourhood and corridor zone.
They further stated that, in violation of one of the OCP's objectives, the zoning change will necessitate the demolition of five single-family homes, dividing the neighbourhood in half, and leaving an "orphaned" house at the end of Hovey Road.
The proposal's potential to establish a precedent for assembling land and tearing down single-family homes in favour of higher-density developments is what worries them the most.
Since July 2024, Aryze has made several revisions to the project.
On Dec. 9, 2024, a scheduled public hearing at the district was cancelled after Aryze failed to submit an updated proposal reducing the initial building height from six storeys to four storeys.
At a recent public information session organized by Aryze on Wednesday, (Jan. 15), some of the latest revisions to the project were shared with the community. Among other changes, the parkade entrance has been moved to East Saanich Road and the building's height has been lowered to two four-storey structures.
“The point isn't the changes they made,” Cyril Hume said. “It's the wrong kind of building in the wrong spot.”
Chris Quigley, director of development at Aryze said the information session was for residents to get a clear understanding of the revisions made throughout the development process and how they remain aligned with Central Saanich’s policy guidelines.
"Changing the height and entrance will not change the fact that what they’re proposing does not comply with most of the OCP policy and none of the zoning,” the group said.
According to the district, a new application from Aryze, reflecting the changes may be on the agenda for the next council meeting on Monday (Jan. 27).
After which a public hearing would most likely be held sometime in February or March.
