Hands up all those who are in favour of densification. The picture on page A3 of the Aug. 7 edition of the Oak Bay News is a prime example of densification reality, Premier Eby’s densification policy and its negative neighbourhood impact.
Most folks who have an eyesore next door just smile, build a six-foot fence and say, “That’s life.” Remember that saying: “The heart doesn’t grieve over what the eye doesn’t see.” But things have changed: you can’t ignore a nearly 33-foot building as a close neighbour.
Now imagine you are a retired couple, looking for a sweet cottage or little house or even a $2-4M dream home, to spend your remaining years, with a sunny garden to putter in and a backyard to let your puppy run wild. Or, perhaps you’ve just invested a $200K to upgrade your current home a bit. Then poof, a set of three-storey townhouses with inadequate parking is erected right next door, blocking your direct sunlight or presenting a big flat surface to enjoy. And since it’s a common driveway at the multi-unit building and parking is pretty tight, there are now six cars parked on the street in front of your house and your neighbours. Worse, your sewer doesn’t work as well as it once did. Let’s call a spade a spade: you and all your neighbours are living in a parking lot with a three-storey structure blocking your sunlight and possibly overloading the now infamously old infrastructure.
Now imagine you go to the municipal hall and say to your elected municipal representatives, “Hey, what gives? My neighbourhood is seriously downgraded, I have no direct sunlight and my net worth just dropped a few hundred thousand dollars." The good folks at city hall might simply shrug their shoulders and say, “Hey, it's not our fault… lean on Eby.”
Well, you don’t need to imagine any more. You can drive down the 700 block of St. Patrick Street to see the real thing yourself. If you like what you see, write to Eby to either congratulate him on forever changing the quality and character of Oak Bay, or complain how three townhouses, which seem unlikely to provide “affordable” housing, have just ruined your retirement or that of someone you know.
And if you’re not living in fear that this might happen to you, think again. There are examples popping up on Cadboro Bay Road and Bowker Avenue too. The neighbours aren’t happy. There are likely more to follow.
Rick Lee
Oak Bay
