As member of the North Saanich Advisory Planning Commission I take exception to the authors who characterize the decision to subdivide the property on Bourne Terrace as improper or ill-conceived.
There was overwhelming neighbourhood support. I put much greater weight on the opinions of those who live there.
The newly-created lot would therefore have full frontage on Bexley and match the look of the other houses. To ensure the house matched the neighbourhood a covenant was placed on the new lot that any construction would conform to R2 zoning.
The lot met the size requirement for subdivision. Section 6.0 of the OCP sets the size of R1 at “1,400 m2 or 15,065 square feet or 0.33 acres.” That math is wrong, 0.33 acres is actually only 1,335 square meters. The minimum lot size was arbitrarily increased in the metric conversion. I chose to base my decision on the .33 acres, a number that is supported in the OCP and by public consultation. I suppose you could call that a common sense approach.
The condition of the lot had no influence on my decision, the decision was solely based on neighbourhood input and land use issues. To indicate I or any member of the APC could be hoodwinked by a developer who simply made his lot an eyesore is quite frankly insulting.
And yes, common sense does play a part in it. In making decisions on the APC there is a line from the OCP that I consider, that any new development should maintain the character of the neighbourhood. There are two of these in-fill lots on Ebor Terrace. Anyone doubting this kind of decision to rezone should drive down the street and try to identify the two R1 lots. You will not be able to.
Mike Stanlake
North Saanich