On a recent walk along Oak Bay Avenue, I noticed the new permanent patio outside The Penny Farthing. My first thought was, I wonder how much money Oak Bay received for permanently repurposing this key piece of Oak Bay Avenue.
On March 25, 2024, council approved the installation of an approximately 740-square-foot permanent patio on the roadway in front of The Penny Farthing. A number of things about the agreement concern me:
First, council agreed to levy a licence fee for the patio for $4,087/year, which equates to $5.50/sf or $11.20/day.
Second, council minutes do not indicate if this yearly fee is fixed or can be increased. Nor does there appear to be a clause allowing the district to rescind or alter their agreement with the applicant.
Third, the minutes of March 25, 2024 advise that, “No public engagement was required as part of this application.” Really? No formal public consultation with Oak Bay taxpayers on what is, essentially, the disposition of public land to a private interest at a bargain-basement price? It’s a key piece of land literally in the main road through our village.
BC Assessment assesses 2228 Oak Bay Ave. at $6,458,000, with $2,402,000 accounting for 10,160 square feet of land – making the value of the land $236.41/sf at this location, a figure dramatically higher than the fee of $5.50/sf levied by the district.
So why didn't council apply a licence fee more closely aligned with true market value? Or, since this public road space is going to be permanently repurposed, why didn't council consider negotiating a percentage of the revenue generated by the public land be shared with the district?
If we weren’t at the March 2024 council meeting or didn’t read the minutes, we wouldn’t know that our elected officials disposed of a prime piece of public land for the stunningly low sum of $11.20 a day.
Oak Bay residents pay significant taxes to preserve public assets. Hopefully, council will take greater care in the future when considering disposition of them to private use.
Steve Murphy
Oak Bay
