Council’s decision on Sept. 9 to refer the Clive apartment’s massive densification proposal to a design panel for further consideration should be of great concern to those who value the present Oak Bay.
The five members of council who are keeping this proposal on the table while refusing to provide the developer with any general, let alone specific, guidance on what improvements should be made, all supported improved community engagement and made no mention of massive overbuilding in their 2011 election pamphlets.
In practice, they continue to do much the opposite on both counts.
A petition saying no to the present Clive proposal with more than 500 signatures, and nearly 50 opposing letters are being ignored. These members of council clearly do not consider our Official Community Plan to be a contract with the community.
No forum is available for the community to have a conversation with council. Letters, verbal comments and the petition are simply acknowledged and council moves along without engagement.
The same pattern is happening with the OCP review survey. No broad community engagement was allowed for the survey content in a process supposedly designed to “allow the municipality to find out what residents want for their community over the next 20 years and to tailor a renewed OCP accordingly.”
Documents that are discussed in open meetings have not been made available to the public. In many people’s opinion, the survey questionnaire asks how, but not if, the community wants densification. Read it carefully when you receive your copy.
I would urge residents to attend council meetings so they can be informed of the present council’s voting record and their community values before the November 2014 election.
Michael Wilmut
Oak Bay