Cut-and-pasting from my campaign website with considerable additions and links ... 

Five words ultimately sum it up based on my council experience these last four roller-Covid-coaster years: Planning, process, preparation, patience and persistence. 

I've thoroughly enjoyed working with my council colleagues guided by staff expertise. We're individuals with varied personal and working styles who reflect a diversity of Sooke viewpoints.We listen to staff reports and public input. We discuss and debate as our perspectives evolve. We vote. We accept the results gracefully (for the near-most part; hand's up here for losing my cool on a few occasions, immediately cautioned by the Mayor and sparking a prompt apology for not acting my advanced age.)  

And we move on to whatever's next on our always packed agendas. Serious business but never short of laughs, compassion, goodwill and an eagerness on all our parts to be of community service. (And tears too at the loss of the irreplaceable Brenda Parkinson). I genuinely like and appreciate our circle of seven, and have always enjoyed those rare occasions when we retire (non-quorum) to the Sooke Brewery after council meetings that end before closing time. 

What ultimately matters, of course, is that the District is in professional hands to deliver the everyday essentials: protective services, operations (parks, roads, sidewalks, wastewater), planning (new development, variances, permits), and financial and corporate services (budgeting, legislative process.)  Sooke's municipal staff does all these things well while also recognizing that the District is a work in ever after progress as it matures into an increasingly effective, adaptable, responsive and professional organization.

Council is to a large degree a stewardship group, and ours (Sooke's seventh since incorporation) have been good, responsible, compassionate stewards, I sincerely believe. Hope you agree!  We certainly did get some stuff done. 


Achievements of the 2018/22 Sooke Council and District staff
(followed by my own personal accomplishments these last four years) 

Working respectfully together, Mayor Maja Tait and her council has achieved the following in collaboration with District staff (led by our VIP hire and sole employee CAO McInnis and his interim Don Schaffer) along with public committees, consultants, community stakeholders and other orders of government.

* Creation of a four-year Council Strategic Plan with considerable staff and community stakeholder input + Introduction of an implementation process  in which "now," "next" and "later" priorities are identified for staff and council action every six months (a first for Sooke thanks to CAO McInnis, who has also introduced annual staff service plan reviews, and worked successfully with Finance Director Raechel Gray to optimize Sooke's annual Five-Year Financial Plan process to best legislative standards and timetables.)   

* Near-adoption of a solid and actionable new Official Community Plan laced with Sooke Smart Growth policies, a 120-point implementation plan and best-practice development guidelines -- all rooted in high per-capita public engagement (Covid-era or not) compared to OCP participation rates in other communities. 

* Initiated a set of vital new planning documents and reports to guide Sooke's short-and-mid-term future: Transportation, Parks & Trails, Housing Needs, Economic Analysis and Child Care included. 

* Renewal of good relations with the T'Sou-ke Nation through a reinvigorated Memorandum of Understanding and the first regular series of meetings between the two councils since the largely inert MOU was established in 2007. 

* Creation of five council committees following open calls for applicants: Community Economic Development, Land Use & Development, Climate Action, Sooke Program of the Arts and OCP Advisory Committee. 

* Operationalization of a climate adaptation and mitigation "green lens" for all District decision-making through the Low Carbon Resilience co-benefits model. It brings a balanced approach to consideration of social, economic and environmental factors. 

* $1 million-plus from the Province of BC for upgrades to the West Coast Family Medical Clinic, providing team-based care for an additional 4,000 unattached patients in the Sooke region. Continuing advocacy for Ayre Manor's expansion plans and with the province for an Urgent Primary Care Centre. 

* Strong focus and quick action on short-term priorities within the Transportation Master Plan, notably active transportation corridors in the town-centre stretches of Otter Point Road and Church Road, with Charters to follow. Extensive shovel-ready design blueprints completed for the Throup/Grant Rd. West bypass route (including roundabouts).  

* Adopted a new Sooke Building Bylaw (2020), added staffing to the building permit department and began a major review/overhaul of the Development Permit Approval process scheduled for completion and enactment next year. 

* Sooke Fire Service: Adoption of Fire Master Plan (2022); implementation of phased paid on-call system for volunteers; equipment renewal (Engine 3,  4x4 heavy duty pick-up truck,  rescue pumper apparatus); Capital Region Mutual Aid agreement; Silver Spray Protection Agreement review. Planned purchase of Engine 4 has been deferred in favour of an Initial Attack Fire Apparatus based on Master Plan recommendation. First Nations artwork and "Brenda" logo added to fire trucks. 

* Endorsement of two Sooke firsts: Climate Action Plan (July 2022) and Community Economic Development Strategy (October 2021) to champion localism while reducing carbon emissions and building a complete community that's better positioned to face emergencies. 

- Approval of Climate Action Committee Workplan (Oct. 2020);  introduction of a Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Strategy approach (Jan. 2021); green lens/climate-first definition through Low Carbon Resilience model (April 12, 2021); 50% target for GHG emissions by 2030 (April 26, 2021); council resolutions in support of PACE enabling legislation and Help Cities Lead initiatives (April 2021); adoption of the 7% Solution GHG reduction strategy (June 28, 2021); approval of preliminary Climate Action Plan framework and citizen engagement strategy (June 28, 2021);  Sooke consent for funding increase to CRD Climate Action Service Bylaw (Nov. 22, 2021); nine-month contract hiring of interim Climate Action Coordinator (Nov. 2021); new-development impacts/carbon accounting presentation by CAC's Anna Russell (Dec. 13, 2021); Community Economic Development Strategy adopted (Dec. 13, 2021); council directs staff to prepare the Climate Action Plan and for the draft to be presented on a T'Sou-ke MOU meeting agenda (Dec. 13, 2021); CRD EV charger infrastructure network (June, 2022);  Climate Action Plan presented (July 18, 2022) and endorsed in principle by council (July 25, 2022); council defers to the next council the Climate Action Committee recommendations to hire a full-time Climate Action Coordinator and creation of a Community Education and Engagement Society to assist the District with its Sooke 2030 campaign (July 25, 2022), 

* Re-establishment of Sooke Chamber of Commerce service agreement after a five-year lapse + first-time District membership in the South Island Prosperity Project

* Hiring of first-ever DOS Community Economic Development Officer to steward the CED Strategy and, in part, the Climate Action Plan. The CED Officer sourced contract funding for Sooke's first interim Climate Action Coordinator (November 2021 to July 2022).  

* Planning for the Lot A town centre hub, where our iconic new library-in-the-round is to be paired with the Gathering Place intergenerational centre, seniors affordable rental housing, a southwest public plaza in the design stage and the possibility of expanded health care facilities as the site is integrated with an evolving Evergreen Mall. 

* Strong support for the Sooke Homelessness Coalition, leading to District involvement in Covid-era shelters at SEAPARC and John Phillips Memorial Park ... followed in turn by what would have been considered a miracle five years ago:  The establishment of Sooke's first dedicated transitional and supportive housing project run by the Sooke Shelter Society at the Hope Centre.   

* Approvals for nearly 500 town-centre rentals -- market-rate and affordable (via BC Housing) apartments as well as, town homes and small-lot single family dwellings. An  equal number is in planning stages for council consideration. All address priorities identified in the Housing Needs Report (2019).  Introduction of the DOS Development Tracker. 

* Initial negotiations with three major mixed-use developers who collectively are proposing additional market-rate housing and over 150k square feet of retail, office and other space in the town centre.    

* Liaison with the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure on the $65-million four-lane improvements in North Sooke, the paving of Connie Road and the  600m MOTI sidewalk extension from the town centre stoplight to Ed Macgregor Park (with plans for future extensions continuing to Whiffin Spit Rd.) 

* Liaison with BC Transit in the development of the Sooke Local Area Transit Plan, delayed by Covid yet promising to dramatically improve local and regional transit options as it is implemented in a regional plan that includes RapidBus service from Langford. 

* Advanced, for public dialogue, the Sooke Lions long-cherished vision of a multi-use community centre after 15+ years of fruitless talks with previous Sooke councils, moving it forward for what has proven to be a robust debate on its pros, cons, possible services, design and proposed location -- all as a prelude to any final decisions or alternative ideas raised by the next council.  

* District staff secured $11 million in provincial and federal grants, including funds for wastewater treatment plant expansion (full details), town centre sidewalk extension, and active-transportation corridors (Otter Point, Church, plus new application made recently for Charters) - see below for mostly complete list of these and other grants. 

* Sewer expansion masterplanning with primary funding focus on extension east to Kaltasin (grant and resident-approval dependent) to eliminate harbour pollution hotspots, permit shellfish harvesting and develop employment lands east of the Sooke River.

* New community amenties including the multi-sports court box at Raven Ridge Park in Sunriver; public trail wayfinding and trailheads for the Stickleback and Sea Walk urban trails; waterfront-access staircases at Cains Family Park and Sooke Bluff Park; the Ponds Corridor Stickleback dog park; the SEAPARC Weight Room & Fitness Studio; and phased work on the future DeMamiel Creek pedestrian crossing.  

* Stabilization of what had become a somewhat shaky District organizational structure starting with the hiring of CAO Norm McInnis.  He, in turn, has begun the process of revitalizing Sooke's corporate reputation and culture with valued existing staff and bright new hires. (Everyone, of course, sends immense good wishes to Norm during his medical leave.) 

* The hiring of a first-ever Communications Coordinator who has skillfully launched a (long overdue) new era in local government transparency and outreach via email newsletters, media relations, social-media content and a diverse, creative array of in-person, print and electronic public engagement through the Let's Talk Sooke platform. Subscribe to the email service here and watch for continuing improvements to the District's jam-packed, hugely informative website.

Miscellaneous Council Actions, 2018-2022

- Endorsed the Charter for Compassion (making Sooke the 103rd city in the world to do so) 

​- Annual funding for Wild Wise Sooke Society

- Sister city relationship with Natori, Japan

- Declaration of a climate emergency (passed unanimously by council on April 8, 2019; Sooke was the 162nd local government in the world to pass an emergency declaration; the first was the Melbourne, Australia suburb of Darebin on Dec. 5, 2016; as of Oct. 2022, 2,275 jurisdictions and local governments representing more than 1 billion citizens world-wide have declared emergencies.) 

- Enlisted in FCM Partners for Climate Protection's five-milestone program   

- Sooke 2030 community development campaign for personal and corporate carbon emission reductions 

- 7% Solution GHG reduction strategy 

- Teleworking advocacy 

- Advocacy for implementation of BC Transit Sooke Local Area Transit Plan

- Council support for Island Rail Corridor

- Formalized ban on anticoagulant rodenticides in District operations 

- Tree bylaw (defeated 4-3), followed by commitment to Sooke tree management strategy, urban tree canopy expansion and tree-planting collaborations with Sooke schools as a starter. 

- First-ever service agreement with Sooke Family Resource Society (for youth navigator, pre-natal & adult counselling services to Sooke residents)  

- Development Permit approvals for Sooke library, Wadams Farm, BC Housing projects, Evergreen Mall and the mixed-use residential/commercial project at the former Mulligans.  

- Approval for CRD Regional Housing First borrowing to provide 400 new shelter-rate units on South Island

- Agricultural Land Reserve  protection via recommendations (to ALC) to reject exclusion requests (with one exception being the small ALR chunk at the corner of Church and Throupe so as to faciliate a roundabout on our future connector route bypass)
​
​- Sooke pilot project: Village Farm Hamlet (District partnership with Greenplan's Jack Anderson)   

- Participation in CRD Regional Foodland Access Program. 

- Cannabis regulations and retail licensing 

- Public funding ($50k) for one-third of costs for new seating in the EMCS Community Theatre

- Waived building permit fees for Sooke River Jack Brooks Hatchery 

- CRD Animal Control contract renewal 

- Financial support for Art Morris Park ball field improvements and pickleball court upgrades

- Approval for 17 Mile House expansion with compact retail plaza  

- Public toilets and water fountains added to John Philips Memorial Park and Whiffin Spit 

- Invasive species (including Japanese knotweed) removal by parks staff and the Greater Victoria Green Team 

- Demolition of the Tin Grotto 

- Revisions of Viewpointe Estates multi-phase parks and trail covenant 

- Progress on DeMamiel Creek connector and sidewalk phased project, Sunriver to schools   

- Wastewater treatment plant centrifuge replacement and overall system upgrades

- Five Year Road Improvement Program 

- Sewer inclusion for various properties, including Woodside Farm and homes on Maple Park Terrace

- Community Parks permit exemption for Sooke Country Market and assistance to relocate it to north of the Fire Hall while a first-ever dedicated parking lot for John Phillips Memorial Park is being constructed due south of the Municipal Hall. 

- Transit bench advertising agreement 

- Preliminary work on development of a waste management strategy, including yard-waste depot in the Sooke public worksyard and a report from the Climate Action Coordinator re: Sooke's place within the CRD Waste Managment Strategy

-  Covid-19 operational protocols, return-to-work planning, virtual meetings and relief measures for local business
​
- Covid initiatives: Approvals for patio expansions, Food trucks service in parks program, delegated authority to staf for liquour license amendments,  

- Support for the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (out of our supposed lane, but took fully five minutes of council time as we joined communities world-wide in calling for this ban.) 

- (last, lucky horseshoe not-least) Renewed agreement with Sooke Horseshoe Pitching Association 


New, updated, consolidated and amended bylaws and policies, 2018-22 
- Flag Protocol (including T'Sou-ke, Ukrainian and Pride flags at Municipal Hall) 
- Council Procedures Bylaw 
- Sooke Building Bylaw 
- Floodplain Regulation Bylaw 
- Business License Bylaw 
- Memorial Plaque Contribution Policy
- Council Remuneration & Benefits Bylaw 
- Development Cost Charges Bylaw 
- Fees & Charges Bylaw 
- Blasting Regulation amendment 
- Check-Out Bag Regulation Bylaw 
- Community Grant & Sponsorship Policy
- Freedom of Information and Privacy Bylaw 
- Council Parental Leave Policy 
- Purchasing and Disposal of Assets Policy 
- Fire Services Protection Bylaw - Backyard Burning 
- Sooke Potholes Gate Policy 
- Community Parks Regulation (user fee reduction) 
- Unsightly Premises Bylaw 
- Public Interest Disclosure Policy 
- Public Complaint Resolution Policy 
- Bylaw Enforcement Policy 
- Letters of Support Policy
- Covid Safe Restart Fund Bylaw 
- Naming of Municipal Assets & Infrastructure Policy
- Electronic Meeting Participation & Etiquette Policy 
- Fireworks Regulation Bylaw 
- Soil Improvement and Deposit Bylaw 
- Municipal Ticket Information Bylaw
- Election Procedure Bylaw 


Grant endorsements and successful applications, 2018-22
- Wastewater Treatment Planet expansion ~ $4.6 million (total budget: $6.58m) 
- Otter Point Active Transportation Corridor ~ $1.8 million (430 meters of sidewalks and 720 meters of bike lanes)
- Church Road Active Transportation Corridor 
- Development Approval Program Project ~ $494,270
- Multi-Sport Court Box ~ $400k 
- Housing Needs Assessment ~ $20,000 
- Strengthening Communities (Sooke Shelter Society) ~ $540,000 + in 2021/22 and 2022/23
- Age-Friendly Communities' Healthy Eating for Active Living program
- Sunriver emergency route planning ~ $25k (funding criteria) 
- Emergency Operations Centre development ~ $25k (funding criteria) 
- FireSmart staffing + Regional Vegetation Management program
- Child Care Needs Assessment ~ $x through Ministry of Children and Family Development 
- Tree Canada planting program
- EV charger program
- UBCM Poverty Reduction Grant for food security research ~ $25k 

Pending
- Phased Sooke sewer service area expansion ~ $27m 
- Charters Road Active Transportation Corridor ~ $7m  
- Charters South Active Transportation Grant ~ $500k 


How I spent the last four years 
* A+ attendance record as an attentive, informed, engaged presence at 250+ meetings (regular council, in-camera, COW, CRD, committee and council appointments, in-person and virtual, 2018/22)  

* Council liaison, Climate Action Committee (2021/22) ~ The CAC delivered (as foundational starting points in the wake of the District's declaration of a climate emergency) the Climate Action Plan, the 7% Solution GHG reduction strategy and the Sooke 2030 citizen and corporate engagement campaign in close collaboration with District staff, consultant Denise Withers and gifted committee members Anna Russell and Beth Lange in particular. 

* Co-chair, Sooke Homelessness Coalition (2021/22) ~ Bi-monthly meetings with a wide range of service agencies, RCMP, Sooke bylaw, Sooke Fire Services and others addressing local issues related to the homeless and those at-risk of homelessness. A working group involving Sooke Shelter Society and Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness representatives, myself and others have recently completed the SHC's first three-year Strategic Plan arising from a series of community brainstorming sessions.  

* Sooke Trustee, Vancouver Island Regional Library Board (2018/22) ~ Doing my small but impactful and tremendously satisfying part as the District's latest VIRL Trustee in helping our landmark new library across the finish line after 15 years of prelude highlighted by sharp moves by earlier councils (i.e., the 2016 purchase of Lot A for a fifth of its current value.) 

* Alternate Director, Capital Regional District (2018/22) ~ Stepping in as requested and required for Director Tait at CRD board, SEAPARC Commission and Transportation, Parks, Governance, Housing, and Planning & Protective Service committee meetings. I've received a substantial 101 working education in such matters as the Regional Growth Strategy, First Nations Relations (and the CRD's statement on reconciliation), the Regional Water Supply Master Plan, SEAPARC operations and planning, the Regional Parks Strategic Plan, the Solid Waste Management Plan, the Regional Housing Affordability Strategy, the CRD Climate Action Strategy,  the Regional Transportation Plan,  the Regional Food and Agricultural Plan, the Regional Emergency Management Partnership, first-time (for the CRD) Mountain Biking Guidelines, corporate operations and  advocacy strategy. (In my experience, the CRD is a hugely competent, progressive, fiscally responsible and professional organization guided by priorities determined by its board on a four-year cycle that starts again post-election.) 

* Chair, Lot A Northeast Quadrant Task Force (2019) ~ Ground-setting consultation work for the future (fingers crossed) Gathering Place  project now moving smartly forward under the direction of the Sooke Region Communities Health Network with solid support in principle from the District. 

* Participant, T'Sou-ke Housing Solutions Lab (2021/22) ~ Half-dozen virtual workshops facilitated by the IISAAK Olam Foundation and dedicated to "influencing meaningful change related to housing and home in T'Sou-ke traditional territority" through various themes: creative housing types; cultural education and reconciliation; innovative models of home ownership and financing; and "working together as one" strategies. 

* Council Appointee, Greater Victoria Family Court & Youth Justice Committee (2018/22) ~ Participated in the CRD review that promises to revitalize the education and advocacy mandate of this regional group of councillors, school district trustees and front-line service providers (founded 1966). With its Communications Committee, I helped produced its annual reports and wrote advocacy letters to the province on behalf of the Mobile Youth Services Team and in support of the Roads to Revival legal services review. 

* Advocacy efforts in process through letters I've written for Mayor Tait's signature: Province of BC teleworking office requested for Sooke; Enhanced Roadside Assessment tests for Sooke seniors (pilot project established in 2020 and continuing today); second-generation anti-coagulant rodenticides ban; enhanced cosmetic pesticide regulations; protection of Vancouver Island sea wolves.

* Exacting attention to detail: Research and intensive homework on all agenda items to the best of my abilities. Keeping council informed about my appointee work during verbal reports. And unofficial role as council watchdog for errors and oversights in the minites. (doubtless more examples above as ever - all of us need proofreaders, I readily acknowledge ;-) 

Start date: Nov. 5, 2018
Final Meeting: Oct. 3, 2022 

What follows are more fine print details about these last four years , including my attendance record at meetings & conventions plus material drawn from a log of council agenda items I've diligently maintained.  

Council 
91 regular and special council meetings 
27 Committee of the Whole meetings
x In-Camera meetings 
 
CRD Alternate Director
14 Capital Regional District board meetings
3 CRD Planning & Protective Services meetings
8 CRD Parks and Environment committee meetings
6 CRD Governance committee meetings
3 CRD Transportation committee meetings
6 SEAPARC Commission meetings 
1 CRD Meeting of Councils meeting
1 CRD First Nation Perspectives training 
 
Council Appointee & Liaison
16 Climate Action Committee meetings 
18 Vancouver Island Regional Library board meetings
5 Northeast Quadrant Lot A Task Force meetings 
27 Victoria Family Court and Youth Justice Committee meetings
30+ Sooke Age-Friendly Committee meetings 
10 Sooke Homelessness Coalition meetings 
x Sooke Homelesness Coalition working group meetings 

Drop-In Attendee 
8 OCP Advisory Committee meetings (virtual) 
x Community Economic Development meetings (occasional)
x Land Use and Development meetings (occasional) 
 
Conventions/Conferences
1 Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention (Quebec City, 2019) 
2 in-person (Vancouver, Whistler) & 2 virtual Union of BC Municipalities conventions 
2 in-person (Powell River, Victoria) & 2 virtual Association of Vancouver island & Coastal Communities conventions
3 Local Government Leadership Academy forums - 2 in-person (Parksville, Richmond) & 1 virtual
1 FCM Sustainable Communities conference (virtual) 
1 NewCities conference (Victoria, 2020) 
1 Newly elected orientation session (Esquimalt, 2018) 

Advocacy (Issues largely identified in Council's Strategic Plan) 
- Community Health Centre/Urgent Primary Care Centre/Ayre Manor expansion   
- Moratorium on hunting of Vancouver Island Sea Wolves 
- Sooke Homelessness Coalition 
- Enhanced transit service via implementation of BC Transit's Sooke Local Area Transit Plan + CRD Regional Transit Plan and related documents 
- Increased Canada Community-Building Fund (aka Gas Tax) monies to Canadian municipalities (amount was doubled in the 2020 and 2021 federal budgets; UBCM page) 
- Municipal & Regional Development Tax (aka Hotel Tax; responsibility of SRTA) 
- Community gateway revitalization 
- Seniors Enhanced Roadside Assessment testing through Coast Capital (Sooke pilot project, 2020-22 ongoing)
- Cosmetic lawn pesticides (response: BC will continue to refine Integrated Pest Management Act) 
- Rodenticides (response: ban on second generation poisons re: BC pest management page + July 2022 consultation) 
- Telecommuting Office (response: Sept. 2022, Sooke will be considered in future provincial telework decisions) 
- Island Rail Corridor (business case + Federal government must decide its level of commitment by March, 2023) 
- Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit (VIIMCU) funding inclusion
- Wastewater grant opportunities (response: Province funds 70% of $6.8m treatment plant expansion costs) 
- Little River crossing funding (2021 grant application to Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program failed + 2023 budgeting for further work) 

Sponsorships, Council Contingency and Community Grants
- Sooke Food Bank
- Wounded Warrior Run 
- Victoria Green Team 
- Rotary Club hockey and golf tournaments 
- Canada Day funding + lumberjack skills presentation
- Sooke Shelter Society/Coldest Night of the Year
- Saunders Family Golf Tournament
- Navy League of Canada Sooke Branch 
- Sooke Harmony Project drive-in movies x 3 
- Gas cards for Christmas Bureau 
- Sooke Fine Arts 
- Chamber of Commerce
- add Community Grant recipients x 30+ organizations  

Delegations 
- Wild Wise Sooke (Sam Webb) 
- Royal Roads University's Sooke baseline study (Brian White) 
- Sooke Chamber of Commerce (Britt Santowski, Karen Mason)
- Surfrider Vancouver Island Foundation/Zero Waste Sooke
- Sooke Food Bank (Kim Kaldal) 
- Sooke Shelter Society (Sherry Thompson, Melanie Cunningham)
- Sooke Multi-Belief Initiative: Sooke Compassionate Action Plan (Mark Ziegler)
- Compassionate Community signage in town centre (Don Brown)
- Decolonization (Jonathan Francoeur) 
- Victoria Foundation Vital Signs Report
- Mosaic Forest Management (Pam Jorgenson) 
- RV/Homeowner Matchmaking Pilot Project (Shadley Taylor & Richard Sawatsky) 
- Moms Stop The Harm/International Overdose Prevention Day (Melanie Cunningham, Ben Groener) 
- EMCS Society theatre seating (Anne Bell, Ashley Green) 
- SRCHN Youth Engagement Study (Christine Bossi) 
- SRCHN Beyond the Paradise: Homelessness in the Sooke Region (Christine Bossi, Gemma Martin)
- SRCHN Food Security report (Christine Bossi) 
- School District #62 (Chair Ravi Parmar)
- Agricultural Land Commission (Chair Jennifer Dyson)
- Transition Sooke (Alan Dolan) 
- Zoning Issue (Wayne Smith, Kevin Pearson)
- Firearms and Bow Use regulation (Terrance Martin) 
- CRD Foodlands Access Program
- Cycling in Sooke, dark skies lighting policies (Oliver Hockenhull)
- Climate Action Committee (Anna Russell, Beth Lange, Bernie Klassen) 
- BC Housing (Malcolm McNaughton)
- Chamber of Commerce/Kurry King (Ramesh Nandhini)
- Greater Victoria Green Team 
- Youth Arts Exhibit (Diane Moran) 
- 606 Water Group (Chris Moss, Lynn Moss, Heather Phillips)
- Pesticide Education Group re: ban on cosmetic pesticides (Yvonne Court)
- Mouck Marine Energy (Capt. Mouck)
- Building permit process (Herb Haldane)
- Tin Grotto (Dennis Woodward)
- Remote Control Car Racing Club 
- Waste to Energy (James Kernaghan)
- Food truck waste/grease disposal 

Rezonings & Development Permits with Variances
- Sooke Veterinary Clinic
- Montessori School 
- Felderhof Road/Church Child Care Centre 
- New WorkLink building approvals (Church)
- SilverSpray East Sooke Rd. realignment 
- 6735 Eustace Road 

Other miscellaneous that I attended ... 
​4 T'Sou-ke/Sooke council dinners (in person)
7 T’Sou-ke Housing Solutions Lab meetings (virtual)
1 T'Sou-ke flag-raising ceremony at the Municipal Hall
1 Memorial and tree-planting for the late Brenda Parkinson
​1 Memorial to the late Cam Sullivan 
4 Council Strategic Plan sessions with consultants, staff and and community stakeholders 
1 Lot A Charette (2 sessions) 
2 Service Capacity Workshops with local government consultant Gord MacIntosh 
1 BC Girl Guide Blue Lights event 
3 Sooke Homelessness Coalition Strategic Plan engagements, Baptist Church (2021/22)
4 Economic Development Group meetings 
20 Sooke Multi-Belief Initiative meetings 
15 EMCS Society meetings
x Tale of A Whale documentary creative meetings with Phoebe Dunbar et al. (2019/22) 
1 BC Wild Salmon policy meeting (2019) 
5 Wild Wise Sooke Zoom meetings 
2 Rising Economy Week virtuals (South island Prosperity Project) 
1 Emergency Operations Centre workshop (partial) 
1 Royal Roads University MOU meeting
1 Wild Arc tour 
​1 District of Sooke staff and council Colours workshop (I'm a blue with strong leanings towards green) 
1 Building Permit Review meeting with development community (2019) 
1 Dahr Jamail presentation to DOS staff and several councillors 
2 Hartland Landfill tours 
2 North Sooke Highway 14 meetings 
1 20th Anniversary District of Sooke picnic/film night
1 By-election speed rating session 
1 Cains Park Staircase ribbon-cutting
1 Poirier Elementary/DeMamiel Creek sidewalk ribbon-cutting 
1 West Wind Harbour Cohousing ribbon-cutting 
1 Stickelback Trail ribbon-cutting 
1 Sooke Library ground-breaking 
2 VIRL Library openings (Sooke, Chemainus) 
1 Sooke 4 Reconciliation group walkabout with Chief Planes 
4 Remembrance Day events (two in-person, two virtual) 
3 Santa Claus parades 
2 Canada Day at the Flats
1 Rotary Club of Sooke Auction
1 Sooke Lions Sookerama 
1 SRCHN BC Accessibility Community consultation 
1 SRCHN Sooke Region Non-Profit Summit (2022)
x Open Houses (District Budget, OCP and Master Plan presentations + MOTI, BC Transit, Aragon Development, BC Housing, Sooke Horseshoe Pitching Club, Gathering Place and others) 
- Meetings (Freedom Mobile, BC Hydro, BC Ambulance, Telus)
- UBCM meetings (virtual and in-person) with BC Ministers of Education, Health, and Mental Health & Addictions 
3 Coldest Night of the Year walks 

Sharing below my prepared notes for the Community Hall candidates evening last night. It was sponsored by "Cindy Mackay and Friends" after being conceived and promoted initially with some considerable confusion but in seeming good faith by candidates affiliated with Sooke Elections for Change. The switch in organizers came on Monday after Elections BC and the District's Elections Officer raised some procedural red flags. There was also no word about a moderator until the same 11th hour email came through stating that JDF Director Mike Hicks would do the honours.

I emailed the person (name new to me) who shared the revised e-vite the day before yesterday for details about the new organizers -- Are they affiliated with any candidates locally or elsewhere? Where do they live? Are they registered as a third-party with Elections BC, if indeed that's required? -- but never heard back. (Ellen Lewers told me Ms. Mackay is a Sooke resident and an engaged voter, but who the friends were and my other questions are unanswered.) 

Nonetheless, after much indecision and despite my own considerable reservations, curiosity won out and I had to be there, at the very least to see what went down in person and contribute as appropriate.  As it turned out, a dozen candidates were present and seated in alpha order:  Anderson, R., Anderson S., Bateman, Beddows, Belford, Bordua, Brandon, Haldane, Holm, Millard, Noseworthy, Paul and Powers.

A dozen more of the Hall's plastic gray seats, semi-circled amongst us at the front of the hall, sat empty apart from the name tags of those who declined.  (Since no one else had done so to that point, I took a minute at the close to partially explain the above complications in trying to give a voice to those who'd opted out for their own good reasons. I also noted that, in my three campaigns, I've attended debates organized by reputable groups like Sooke Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce and Transition Sooke with whom we've all felt confident and comfortable and yet in this case still hadn't met nor knew anything much at all about the organizers.)  

Director Hicks gave us four minutes each for an opening comment, then we were asked in alphabetical turn to reply to four pre-circulated questions.  About 75 folks were in the audience, a few familiar faces but many new to me.  Mike said at the outset: "I know from experience it is not easy to stand-up and speak, so please be respectful." And that was indeed the case for the next three well-managed hours.

Closing thought: Respect above all to everyone and their freedom of choice to attend or not. And onwards we go to Saturday, the pack of 26 jockeying to the finish line. May we all be well, content and grateful for this fortunate life whatever the final results. 


Opening Comments
(recycling content from my EMCS speech and my website with a few new twists)

Good evening everyone. Jeff Bateman, live and in person again. As I said at EMCS two Saturdays ago, I want to carry on to see through the directions that our council and staff team have initiated since 2018. You will find those directions captured in the new master plans and reports we’ve endorsed … 

• Transportation
• Parks & Trails 
• Community Economic Development 
• Climate Action 
• Housing Needs
• Child Care
• Economic Analysis 

 
And, of course, our pending OCP, which I rate as an exceptionally good document that reinforces themes found in all our other plans dating back 50 years.  I want to again paraphrase what the Advisory Committee said they heard from YOU during public engagement: 
 
1. The strong desire to maintain and enhance Sooke’s unique character. 
2. Environmental Protection
3. Focused Town Centre growth 
4. Good relations with the T’Sou-ke Nation 
5. Improved road networks to deal with our growing traffic jams 
6. United community support for climate action. 
 
OCP Advisory Committee members, including recently Steve Grundy and Chair Helen Ritts, have confirmed that these major themes are all substantially addressed in the OCP and they both urge adoption. 
 
So yes, let’s do these things – with planning, patience, persistence, fiscal responsibility, advocacy and action. 
 
As for me, I believe I have the energy, positivity and commitment to continue making a meaningful contribution. I better understand the fundamentals of local government and council procedure to a significant if certainly incomplete and often humbling degree.  
 
It took awhile, but I'm now able to absorb multi-hundred-page agendas released 96-hours before meetings. I'm recognized for doing my homework and providing context to council discussions. I trust I've proven myself to be an active, respectful listener and effective colleague. I'm known for my humour and good will. 
 
And I enjoy being a team player who has thoroughly enjoyed working with my council colleagues guided by staff. We're seven individuals with varied personal and working styles who reflect a diversity of Sooke viewpoints. We listen. We discuss and debate as our perspectives evolve. We vote. We accept the results and move on to whatever’s next on our agendas. Serious business and the rare spat, but never short of laughs, friendliness, good will and an eagerness on all our parts to be of community service.

Finally, I'll say that being a councillor in my experience is a challenging, complicated, mentally taxing role on a minimum wage salary. It's about much more than our individual top-three issues. It's about creating a respectful working bond between each other on council and with District staff and the public in tackling an unbelievably wide range of issues and concerns. It's about keeping up with the intense workload and extra-curricular council assignments. The work is fascinating, rewarding and often a lot of fun.

It absolutely invites burn out ... and yet here i am seeking four more years. l wish there was a karaoke machine nearby so i could pay tribute to the late, great Loretta Lynn and sing a few bars of (wait two beats) "Crazy." But I'll save that for another time. Thank you.

​Four Questions Distributed Beforehand and Asked of All Candidates
(two-minutes response time) 

1.  What is the main issue for Sooke and what would you do to address that issue?
 
The main issue for Sooke – well, I reject the premise of the question a little – everything is interconnected … and that includes: 
 
- natural environment
- built environment
- housing
- transportation
- parks and trails
- roads, sidewalks and wastewater infrastructure
- food security
- community economic development
- arts and culture
- equity and inclusion
- recreation and community services, including health care
 
Those, incidentally, are the community policy areas in the provisional Official Community Plan. 
 
But to the question: What I have been saying for nearly a decade is that issue number one is Sooke’s population capacity. What is the sweet spot for growth given the reality of our mostly two-lane highway? How many of us is too many?  When do we lose the quality of life that drew many of us here?  
 
And how can we manage growth given that landowners with the proper zoning have a legal right to develop provided they are aligned with the Official Community Plan. 
 
I’ve spent untold hours pouring over the draft OCP and I’ve grown obsessed with the population projections from the CRD and Statistics Canada. Based on annual 2.9% growth as we’ve experienced the last five years, we’ll reach 26k by 2040 and 34,561 by 2050.  
 
I think my one biggest contribution to the latest version of the bylaw was to get a boxed paragraph inserted above these population forecasts. It reads: "The District of Sooke and its elected Councils have the ability to challenge, reject, and re-envision these projections." 
 
Our tools are zoning, transportation mode shift, local job creation and perhaps logically selling Sooke as an age-friendly committee where the newly retired or teleworkers can live and NOT add new volume to the road. 
 
So that’s what I suggest we do: Future councils re-envision these projections, strive to identify this elusive population sweet spot and work strategically to reach it over time while making decisions here and now that invite the best possible development onto a smart-growth land base that is absolutely finite.  
 
 
2.  What changes would you support in the draft OCP?
 
(I spent the first part of my two minutes responding in the moment to Elections for Change candidate Rob Anderson, who one speaker before me had begun answering this question by holding up his lighter, sparking a flame and saying something along the lines of how he'd like to torch it entirely. Mostly kept my cool, I hope, while later laughing aloud to myself at  this master class in political theatre. Then back to my notes for an abbreviated answer ....)

" I’m largely content with the OCP as it stands. The next council, I imagine, will conduct another round of public input and EXPERT stakeholder input atop the 28-month labour of professional and public input. 
 
A main outstanding source of concern are the Development Permit Guidelines. Personally, I like the idea of a task force comprised of staff, a councillor and a set of diverse stakeholders based on the criteria used to assemble this last term's Land Use and Development Committee -- namely reps from the land development, home builder, business, agricultural, environmental & climate change, and oceans and fisheries communities in Sooke.

Their job would be to review and fine-tune the current recommended Development Permit Guidelines for inclusion in either the OCP itself or the new Zoning Bylaw that will follow its adoption.  
 
To axe the guidelines entirely, as some have suggested, doesn’t make sense to me, not after seeing how effective the current set of them is proving as staff and the developer negotiate over the west-side of Brownsey Boulevard. How else can a community ensure that the form and character of our built environment matches community wishes? 
 
(The timer's stop sign went up about now, so I had to hold back on the second part of my pre-digested answer)

Also I wonder whether maximum density in the Community Residential designation – i.e., the sewered parts of Sooke -- should be less than the proposed 70 units per hectare. 

No question, the policy directions in the OCP – which call for density in the town centre and only there – will control this ... as will the new Zoning Bylaw with its site-specific zoning. 
 
Yet I wonder if perhaps we should reduce this number outside the town centre designations. I would sincerely hate to see a development-minded council elected here who would then have the tools to transform us into a denser urban environment – which is exactly what the OCP input tells us we don’t want to be." 


3.  What would you suggest as a solution to the transportation problem?
 
1. Stay focused on the short-term priorities in the Transportation Master Plan – primarily the build-out of the Throup/Grant Rd. West bypass route with its roundabouts. This will ease Sooke Road traffic with alternate routes to schools and homes. 
 
2.  Continuing developing and densifying a walkable town centre where people can safely access -- on foot and bike and scooter -- services, shops, cultural amenities, the new library, the boardwalk, etc. 
 
3. Advocate with the Ministry of Transportation as we are doing through Sooke’s Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry. 
 
4. Build out of the next four TMP priorities for sidewalk/bike lane construction based on safe routes to schools – namely Rhodenite, the Beaton/Pryite area, Charters between Sooke Rd. and Throup, and on  Phillips near the museum and SEAPARC. 
 
5. Recognize we’re a bedroom community but also one that does have a growing number of local jobs … strategies to create local jobs are in the new Community Economic Development Action Plan and they’d be accelerated by sewer expansion east to Kaltasin. 
 
6. Advocacy for private and provincial teleworking centres in Sooke. 
 
7. Car share and ride-share programs 
 
8. Lobby as Mayor Tait is doing for full implementation of BC Transit’s Local Area Transit Plan – held up by Covid but promising expanded regional and local service. I’d like to see incentives introduced at the outset to boost local route ridership – perhaps free transit for young people and means-tested adults. It really pains me to see mostly empty buses on our secondary streets as I do now. 
 

4. Sooke is experiencing an incredible rate of growth, what would you do towards addressing this situation?
 
Well, we live in one of the most beautiful, privileged places in a world of eight billion people.  And we live on an island and in a region that is well and truly on the map … 
 
According to various travel authorities … 
 
- Victoria is rated as the second best small city in the world 
- Mystic Beach is ranked among the top-50 beaches in the world. 
- Vancouver Island is the world’s best island for tourists
 
And naturally this attracts new residents too … 
- The climate, the setting, the people, the proximity to Victoria and Langford
- The relative housing affordability.  

People from everywhere want to live here. We clearly can’t pull up the drawbridge … we only have the one bridge, and that’s an issue too. Growth is inevitable and welcome – new energy, new faces, new investment, new amenities. 
 
But as I said earlier we must recognize that this community has an optimum population size given our limit to growth – Highway 14. To handle significant more growth, we’d need a secondary access … and that’s tricky. 
 
The Ministry of Transportation rejected 14 options in its 2020 study of Malahat alternative routes … including the Boneyard and Sooke Main options … this because of impacts to the Sooke watershed, costs and various “geotechnical and geohazard” constraints. 
 
Two routes made the shortlist – Niagara Main in the Langford area … and the Far West Allignment, which would loop from Mill Bay around the west of the future Leech Water Supply area and reach Sooke.  They too were ultimately rejected for various good reasons. Butler Main Road is there as another possibility apart from the Marine Circle Route. 
 
According to MOTI, four lanes from here to Langford will cost $1 billion … 
 
Whatever the potential alternative route we have an OCP that states categorically that we want to remain a small town with a big heart. A secondary route here would likely make us a much bigger town with what I'm sure would still be a  Big Heart. 

We must always remember we are still WILD BY NATURE and that we’re THE GATEWAY TO THE JUAN DE FUCA – and never lose sight of those aces in our deck.  Also worth recognizing that long-term growth on Vancouver Island was supposed to be channeled up the Malahat and along the eastern seaboard. The four and six-lane road infrastructure on the Trans Canada and #19 north to Campbell River is in place for that very reason. 
 
How to manage growth in Sooke? 
 
- Planning and regular renewal/review of our evolving growth patterns 
- Zoning Bylaw 
- Smart growth town-centre development
- Transportation mode shift 
- Better transit services
- Telework centres 
- Ensure new development is aligned with existing road and wastewater infrastructure. 
- Essentially take the foot off the gas pedal, take a breath, be extra vigilant with new development permit applications, settle for nothing less than the best, and never forget we are blessed beyond measure to live here." 

October, 2022 Update  A follow-up package with responses to 30 substantial queries raised by residents at the virtual and in-person Whiffin Spit and Kaltasin public sessions during the second week of September was released by the District on Oct. 7. Also shared were the Whiffin Spit and Kaltasin slide decks presented by District staff and representatives from Urban Systems and Stantec. (I was at the UBCM convention at the time, but was able to attend the two Zoom sessions that week.)

The project web page has been updated with these materials along with videos of the two virtual explainers.  The page closes with the line: "What’s next?  Await grant status – anticipated notification in early 2023."

​As I wrote on Facebook on Sept. 13: "My grant-dependent view: Kaltasin - YES! Whiffin Spit - good to prepare for the likely inevitable, but a decade or three premature unless CRD monitoring reports of harbour water quality prove urgent need, and it seems they currently do not. The pollution hotspots cluster at the mouth of the Sooke River." 

I've seen a preliminary CRD summary on the latest (2021) harbour water quality monitoring that is a prelude to a final report to be issued late this year by the CRD, the District and the Ministry of Environment & Climate Change Strategy. I sought and received permission to share, so I'll do so here.

[Carolyn and I have been Whiffin Spit residents since 2003. We're Not In My Backyard types on this matter given that we have a functional, regularly pumped-out septic tank and field in the front yard, as do most of us. We also recognize that money is tight for many (including us after paying off last year's new roof.) We'd certainly reconsider if there were environmental impacts in our harbour waters.]

As I read it, this results summary reaffirms that the prime harbour pollution hotspots in the harbour would be best addressed exactly as the 2010 Liquid Waste Management Plan recommends: Through sewer service to Kaltasin and Whiffin Spit North.  Cooper's Cove also remains a problem area. From what I can tell, these findings seemingly duplicate the previous 2016/17 CRD report. (Its reports are issued every four years.)  

The community consensus has led to environmental protection being the highest of priorities in the current and pending Official Community Plans. Improving harbour waters to the point where shellfish harvesting is again possible is a primary objective. Eliminating pollution hotspots is possible through sewer expansion. 

(And, as cited here many times now regarding eastward expansion to Kaltasin, it will also service the T'Sou-ke Nation, two schools, our limited stock of commercial/industrial land and address proven failing residential septic fields in the area. Sea-level change remains the unpredictable joker in this pack of positive benefits. As the new report states: "The Kaltasin pump station is proposed to be located in the vicinity of Billings Spit Park and, as such, may be vulnerable to potential flooding in a situation where a storm event combines with sea level rise. The station will be designed such that electrical equipment (kiosk and generator) is at an elevation where electrical components are protected from these events.")

District and CRD staff collected samples weekly for ten weeks during the summer and fall of 2021. These were drawn at each of the 28 marine stations in Sooke inlet, harbour and basin. Bacteria and metals were measured. Sampling was stopped by the winter storms in November, however one test was completed immediately following the series of atmospheric rivers late that month. 

The CRD shared that its 2021 tests show that "fecal coliforms were elevated above the objective protective (sic) of shellfish harvesting (geomean) in summer at the mouth of the Sooke River and Sooke Harbour (stations SO-20, 22 and 23)." Those numbered stations are located in the Sooke River estuary west of IR 1 and at two spots on the east side of the town centre.  These spots also showed elevated bacteria in the early winter, and were joined at that point by stations SO-24 and 25 (i.e., at the foot of Maple and off Heron Gate in Whiffin Spit North). 

Other harbour monitoring stations near the Sooke River and at the mouth of Cooper's Cove (SO-15)  also measured elevated levels of human bacteria.  (I look forward to learning exactly what 'elevated' means.) 

Regarding metals, copper was again found in 2021 samples on "the Juan de Fuca side of the Sooke basin, where copper is likely naturally elevated as it and iron were mined there in the past." This aligns with reporting done in 2008 and 2016. "Exceedances of cadmium and zinc were not measured in 2021." 

Run-off from roads: "In general, the highest concentrations of stormwater contaminants for roads occur during the first few rainfalls after a dry period." 

As for the impact of late November's heavy downpours, the samples taken at that time measured "sources of human bacteria in stormwater discharges north of Whiffin Spit and in Juan de Fuca Electoral Area likely due to onsite sewage treatment systems." These "overwhelmed" systems are deemed the source of this pollution during the atmospheric river, which we're warned will occur more routinely in future as climate change continues to deliver unpredictable outcomes.  ["Results indicate that sewage is still present in Sooke Harbour as human bacteria was measured using bacterial source tracking techniques in all our samples collected on Nov. 25 at the mouth of the Sooke River and adjacent to Sooke Harbour (SO-20, 23, 24 and 25)."] 

(This year's notable example being our current months-long drought, for instance. Some wildfire smoke in early September was a reminder of smoggy recent summers past and while no heat dome arose, we can anticipate more heavy winter rains in short periods that will likely again flood spots like the Flats and set the Sooke River raging.)

Also reassuring to know that the CRD's water supply system remains one of the world's best and most reliable, all the more so with this year's release of a 30-year, $2 billion Regional Water Supply Master Plan based on projected regional population growth and needs, climate change impacts and regulatory requirements.)   

Again, it will be interesting to see how all this data is crunched and interpreted in the "Attainment Report" to be published late this year as stated in the District's just-released Q&A answers, pg. 24.)  



CRD Septic Tank Bylaw  Sooke adoption of the CRD Septic Tank Bylaw 3479 would be a logical way to monitor Whiffin Spit households in future if indeed the grant for this second portion of the expansion master plan doesn't come through or the neighbourhood rejects it.

The bylaw requires pump-outs every five years. The CRD routinely gets this data directly from the service companies, and it would follow-up with addresses that haven't complied. Big Brother, in this case, is entirely welcome and logical.

Saanich, Langford, View Royal and Colwood have adopted the bylaw to date. Sooke council has not been formally told that this under consideration by District staff, however I for one would support it. (I'm sure we all would - this council and any of the 23 candidates, too.) 

According to a CRD FAQ on the bylaw, "Bylaw 3479 requires regular pump outs for Type 1 (i.e., average household) systems but that is only one part of maintenance. All components should be examined on a regular basis to determine their condition and allow for maintenance and cleaning to take place. The current (2020) industry costs on Vancouver Island are estimated to be as follows: Pumping a septic tank: $400 - $1200 (600 – 1000 gallon tank); Inspection: $600 - $1200; Maintenance, cleaning or repairs: $90-110 per hour.

(There's also a bylaw for Type 2 and 3 fields, which typically feature larger drainfields serving multiple households. I'm no expert on these matters, I readily acknowledge, but i was told recently of two such functional, well-maintained strata fields with their own "package treatment plants" in the Deerlepe/Francis area two blocks from here; we walk over and by one when short-cutting through the forest towards the strata, always stopping to check out the Little Library).  

The CRD's Protecting Your Septic System is available for anytime reference. Visit its Septic Savvy webpage for a library of best-practice PDFs and video clips. It also lists upcoming live webinars on the subject (the next is on Sat. Oct. 22, 10 AM to Noon.)

​
Original Post ~ May 30, 2022  The District has just shared its "What We Heard" report summarizing feedback from residents in the Kaltasin (92 respondents from 290 properties) and Whiffin Spit (261 from 447 properties) neighbourhoods to the proposed sewer system master plan expansion. You'll find it and a new Q&A Info package among the sidebar files on the Let's Talk Sooke: Wastewater Planning page.  Read these first, please. 

The response, in brief as I interpret it, is wholly contingent on whether or not Sooke can secure the full $27.1 million grant we're seeking from the federal government's Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program's Environmental Quality (EQ) Program. If yes, at least two-thirds of folks are in favour of a strategy that would see expansion east to Kaltasin to start, followed by servicing in Whiffin Spit. Support declines if we get partial funding and bottoms out if we're snubbed entirely. The decision is expected this time next year.  

Any which way, moving ahead is also entirely contingent on approval via a local area petition process exclusively involving residents who'd be getting the new service and dealing with the resultant sticker shock  (My fingers-crossed optimistic guess: We'll be okayed for the $8.7m that would enable the Kaltasin expansion and asked to be patient about funding for the remainder of a master plan that likely won't be built out for several decades. Which is entirely what District planning documents, which identify phases but not timelines, recommend.) 

The surveys affirm the OCP-certified (and shared by us all, surely) importance of protecting and upgrading the environmental health of the Sooke harbour. Yet per-household cost is a serious concern for many in these unpredictable and inflationary times. [Without a grant, the cost would be a one-time $33k per home plus $2k per year ongoing in Whiffin Spit; $28k + $1.5k per year for Kaltasin. On average (every home has a different hook-up cost scenario), halve those costs with a partial grant, and cut them by 70% with a full grant.]

The Kaltasin cohort largely agrees with the District's 2010 Liquid Waste Management Plan - Sanitary that the top priority is eastward expansion their way to serve T'Sou-ke IR1, SD #62 schools and the mix of residential, industrial and commercially zoned land.  (CRD water quality monitoring reports confirm that the main pollution hotspots are clustered at the mouth of the Sooke River and nearby in the harbour.)  

The Whiffin Spit gang are generally much less enthusiastic, citing concerns about too much potential resultant development along with satisfaction with functional, well-maintained septic systems. The CRD marine reports also largely confirm this. They're issued every four years. The 2017 edition is too large to attach here, so email me at jbateman@shaw.ca if you'd like a copy. The latest is due later this year. (Read appendix G of the What We Heard report for a particularly substantial reply from the Austins Place Strata group, which concludes: "The District should not rush to proceed with a half-planned project because a grant is available. We fully support Council’s plan to address water contamination sourced from the long-identified “hot spots,” but not to Whiffin Spit. We also encourage Council to take the other actions outlined in the LWMP to prevent boat effluent and farm animal wastes from being discharged into the Sooke Harbour.")  (Action 18 of the draft OCP identifies the need for a dockside sewage pump-out facility, which Sooke lacks unlike most coastal communities listed in this 2022 brochure.) 

The District's Q&A report (pg. 5) details the next steps: 

"If the District of Sooke is successful with its grant application, the District will proceed with establishing a Local Area Service including a Loan Authorization Bylaw through a Petition Against process. This process provides an opportunity for those not in support of the expanded sewer service to express their opposition. If at least 50 percent of owners representing at least 50 percent of the assessed value of land identified in the area (Whiffin Spit and Kaltasin are independent service areas) sign the petition against, then the new service for the area will not be created and the project will not proceed.

At this time, if the District is not successful with its grant application, it is unlikely we will continue to explore sewer service expansion in these areas; however, this is a conversation we are interested in continuing with property owners at the Project Open Houses" (which are to be scheduled in-person and online this summer)

********************************************************************************************************************************
Quick reads:  District's current Sewer System website page + Royal Flush: Behind the Scenes at Sooke's Wastewater Treatment Plant (Kevin Laird, Sooke News Mirror)

And now from the More Than You Ever Wanted to Know Dept.  

The District's first OCP (adopted Aug. 12, 2002) notes that "Sooke has very little in the way of hard services such as storm and sanitary sewers. In 2000, the District commissioned the Village Sewerage Study to provide a preliminary design and cost estimate of a system of sewage collection, treatment and disposal for the commercial core ... A sewer system helps to prevent pollution problems associated with inadequate or poorly maintained on-site systems. It also allows for greater density. In the long run, sewers will help to achieve the form of development suggested in this Plan, rather than the more sprawling form of development that occurs where services are limited. A better quality of building and economic benefits should result as more efficient use is made of a limited land supply. Revitalization of the Town Centre should become more achievable." (pg. 50; not available online.) 

An awesomely detailed Water Quality Assessment and Proposed Objectives for Sooke Watersheds, Inlet, Harbour and Basin Technical Report, released by the BC Ministry of the Environment in 2019, identifies multiple then-and-now sources of water pollution in local waters. "The primary concern with regards to potential impacts on water quality in Sooke Inlet/Harbour/Basin are associated with anthropogenic activities, specifically failing septic fields and rainwater runoff carrying contaminants from the freshwater streams and stormdrains into the marine waters (Cameron and Green, 2007; CRD, 2008; Environment Canada, 2005; Cross, 1996; CRD, 2010; CRD, 2011; CRD, 2012; CRD, 2013)."

Also of concern is residual "legacy impact" marine pollution from resource industries -- "marine aquaculture operations (two salmon net pen operations), fish processing and forestry operations (log storage and booming and wood treatment by Lamford Forest Products Ltd. on Goodridge Peninsula)" -- now embedded in marine soil.  

From a literal s***show in the early '00s (fecal coliform-show, to be accurate), the District cleaned up its act and the harbour with it by contracting with Edmonton-based EPCOR to build a modern sewer and secondary-treatment system serving what's known as the Sewer Specified Area (effectively the town centre and environs.) Construction began in 2004 and was completed in November of the following year. Domestic and commercial connections began shortly thereafter and have continued ever since as new homes are added in the SSA.  

As legislatively required, the District then produced a series of stormwater, rainwater and sanitary Liquid Waste Management Plans (LWMP) during the period 2007-10 for use as short and longer-range planning documents. 

Council led by Mayor Evans wanted to extend what it clearly rated as a successful relationship with EPCOR into the 2030s. This sparked an election-year group called Fair Sewer Services for Sooke led by future Mayor Wendall Milne, former/future councillor Rick Kasper and then-and-soon-reelected councillor Herb Haldane. They opposed the 21-year pact on the grounds that no opportunity for competitive bids had been issued to other operators and that small towns like Sooke had successfully proven they could cost-effectively manage treatment plants and associated systems independently. 

In response, council opted for an Alternative Approval Process inviting registered voters to weigh in.  In the same July 6, 2011 News Mirror issue that contains a front-page story about the District's then-new anti-bullying and harassment policy (triggered by one unnamed councillor's behaviour), it was reported that 2,036 voters (more than one in five of us back then) were against the long-term deal.  (if you click on that News Mirror link, by all means visit the letters page and watch the sparks fly as they routinely did in what was then a wide-open letters section.) 

A series of one-year contracts with EPCOR ensued until the District brought operations in-house in March, 2016.  Staff (I discover in close perusal of minutes of that period; I was in the audience that night, scribbling notes yet frankly rather clueless about all this, which I remain to some significantly smaller yet still life-long learning degree) presented a Sewer Services Area Report on Oct. 10, 2017 in response to a council "feasibility study request for the future expansion of wastewater services to areas outside the current SSA."

​Council discussion that night revolved around: i) Cost of the study; ii) current vs. future capacity of the plant and system; iii) required upgrades to the existing system; iv)  the need for examination of future expansion and efficiencies; and v) review of the current SSA system's connections + pre-bought capacity (a matter to be raised later in the year by Bedrock Developments landowner Les Monnington viz. the gravity-fed future sewer tie-ins he'd pre-purchased in 2003 for his 2119 Charters Rd. property. Back then, the land was pegged for a mobile-home park until the District unveiled its connector-route ambitions ~ which, as you know, failed at the first hurdle with the Jan. 2005 referendum defeat and have now been revitalized in the all-systems-go 2020 Transportation Master Plan. Mr. Monnington was understandably miffed that the servicing hadn't been provided 15 years later. District staff explained that the unexpectedly high installation costs can only be met once the connector route is greenlighted and Development Cost Charges flow in.) 

System upgrades have been identified and undertaken since. A new centrifuge was installed to improve the system by which waste products are wrung dry and sent as biosolids to the Hartland Landfill. Major work has been done on "inflow and infiltration" issues by which groundwater enters sanity (day after edit: Freudian typo likely due to the rather maddening length of this entry ~ I mean 'sanitary', sorry folks) sewers through broken pipes and manholes (the cause of over-capacity during heavy rains.)  More on pg. 34/35 of Sooke's latest Annual Report. 

Under the user-pay model, the District is anticipating $3m in sewer revenues this year (85% of it from sewer parcel taxes paid by homeowners utilizing the system). Those of us outside the SSA contribute nothing to its upkeep, but we do have to invest in maintaining our respective septic fields. (I think the District should/could make a commitment to reminding/educating homeowners about best practices as per these CRD and Province of BC guidelines.)  

Total annual sewer operating costs are currently $2.8 million with an additional $450k going towards the long-term sewer debt ($3 million still outstanding on a Municipal Finance Authority loan that matures in 2026). A Sewer Reserve Fund with $1.7 million as of the start of the year is available for repairs and maintenance of the existing system (not future expansion).  

Into the Present
With the current plant stretched to the max on heavy storm days and operating at 70% capacity most of the year, the current council revisited the Liquid Waste Management Plan and authorized staff to seek grant funding that would add a planned third (of a maximum four) treatment tanks to the plant just east of Woodside Farm.  This would increase capacity a further 50% and prepare for community growth over the next decade and more.  

Premier Horgan delivered the good news on July 19, 2021; the construction schedule aims to complete the expansion in late 2023. Concurrent with this, the sewer will be hooked into T'Sou-ke IR2 adjacent to the plant (as approved by council in 2017.) 

Knowing extra capacity was now guaranteed, District staff developed an ambitious four-phase master plan based on the OCP's environment-first values and LWMP recommendations.  (i.e., like the connector route blueprints, this is another shovel-ready document that the District has ready for current and future grant opportunities. Best-practice strategizing, in other words,  in an era when Ottawa and the province are investing unprecedented sums in infrastructure expansion.)

Sooke Liquid Waste Management Plan - Stage Three: Sanitary (2010) features the future-looking implementation plan. Expansion to Kaltasin (the #1 recommendation) and Whiffin Spit North (#2, with an option for all of the Spit) are detailed in these sections: 

• Discussion Paper 1 - section 3.1 - "Considerations For Adding New Sewered Areas To the District of Sooke Sewer Specified Area"
• Discussion Paper 7 - section 3.10 - "Priority Assessment For Sewering Catchment Areas In the District of Sooke"
• Recommendations - section 7.1 

A key paragraph under recommendations (pg. 7.2) that effectively authorizes future expansion (pending, as can't be said enough, affected resident approval) states: "The District commits to the preferred order of catchment areas to be included in the SSA in the future. The preferred order of catchment areas could vary based on on-going environmental monitoring activities and the priorities of the District. At this point, of the two highest ranked candidate areas, Whiffin Spit North and Kaltasin, the Kaltasin area is the preferred candidate for the next expansion of the Sewer Specified Area (SSA). This list should be revisited on a five-year basis to determine which areas are in greatest need of connection." 


The Current Four-Phase Master Plan

Phase 1: Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion 
Phase 2A: Kaltasin Expansion Area ($8.7 million expansion priority #1)
Phase 2B: Whiffin Spit Expansion Area ($16 million expansion priority #2)
Phase 3: WWTP expansion fourth basin (final possible expansion at the current site) 
Phase 4: Future expansion east of Kaltasin (highly unlikely given the CRD's sprawl-averse Regional Growth Strategy focus on compact and complete communities.) 

This phased approach is detailed in the Dec. 13, 2021 council agenda (see. pp. 173-242, and the infographics below).  The agenda also includes project assessments from Urban Systems and Stantec along with details about a public engagement process that reached its latest stage with yesterday's release of the resident feedback report.  

Council voted unanimously that pre-Christmas night to approve a conditional borrowing bylaw that would fund the District's share (up to $6.9 million) of the project costs exceeding the (up to) $27.1 million the District hopes to secure from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program's Environmental Quality (EQ) Program. This federal/provincial funding program supports capital infrastructure projects related to drinking water, stormwater, solid waste management, soil remediation and, pertinent to our case, "treatment and management improvements for waste water."

Repeating myself again by saying decisions on who gets what from the $270m (BC's share) total funds are anticipated next spring.  We can expect one of the following funding outcomes: i) Full; ii) Partial; iii) Sorry, better luck next time. Given that Sooke's ask represents fully 10% of total available program funds, and knowing that we're surely not alone in seeking a piece of this pie, then a best optimstic bet is option ii ~ partial funding that would trigger a voter assent process to approve or deny the Kaltasin phase. 

Still Further Background
- Related paragraph in Sooke's CRD Regional Growth Strategy statement (2020): "Access to clean, safe drinking water to all residents within the District of Sooke is a long-term intention of the OCP to address environmental issues, fire suppression, agricultural sustainability, and public health. The extension of sewers throughout the Community Growth Area to protect the environment is encouraged." 

~ From the 2010 Official Community Plan (pg. 143/44)  
"Sewer: The Sooke wastewater collection and treatment system is owned by the District of Sooke and operated by EPCOR Water Services Inc. The District of Sooke and EPCOR entered into a 5-year fixed price agreement to provide operation and maintenance of the sewer collection system and wastewater treatment plant. The contract with EPCOR expired in June 2009 and options to renew are being explored. Construction of the collection system and wastewater treatment plant began in 2004 and the system was commissioned in November 2006. Initial individual and domestic hook ups began in January 2006 through until August 2007 and are ongoing in the sewer specified areas (SSA).

The project consists of a 27 kilometre (km) collection system, 3 lift stations and a secondary wastewater treatment facility. A 4th lift station was added to accommodate the Sunriver development. Secondary sewage treatment removes 90% [now up to 95% thanks to plant improvements] of the total suspended solids and high levels of other contaminants, which provides significant environmental benefits.

System statistics include the following:

-  27 km long collection system (not including Sunriver addition);
-  1.7 km long, 30 metre deep outfall;
-  Sequential Batch Reactor Secondary Treatment Process with UV disinfection;
-  Capacity peak design of 3,000 m3/day, expandable by an additional 3,000m3/day through the addition of two SBR basins and a third digester component; and 
-  Servicing core area of 5,500 residents."

~ Lower Sooke River Watershed Management Plan (1999 Environment Canada/Royal Roads University study on how local pollution from DeMamiel Creek was leading to T'Sou-ke shellfish harvesting closures in the basin.) One of its conclusion: "Sooke does not have a municipal sewer system. The town relies mainly on septic systems to dispose of human waste. Many areas within Sooke support high-density septic system regions. Community based education, aimed at improving septic system care and maintenance, may promote cleaner waterways and ocean shorelines in and around the community of Sooke." 

~ Borrowing Bylaw (2003) that enabled construction of the sewer 
~ EPCOR contracted to build Sooke sewer system; sampling of its annual reports: 2012 + 2014
~ Sewage Pipeline Provides Home for Rare Sea Life (Globe & Mail, 2008) 
~ Sooke Ends Contract with EPCOR (March, 2016; Victoria Times Colonist + Sooke News MIrror) 


From my Facebook page, July 20, 2021 
"Sooke's managed growth and environmental health received the necessary fiscal love yesterday with Premier Horgan's announcement that we'd won another grant lottery -- in this case $4.6 million from the Investing in Canada Green Infrastructure program to pay three-quarters of the cost for a 50% expansion of our Waste Water Treatment Plant. (The District will cover the rest via a $1.9 million long-term loan from the Municipal Finance Authority.)

The plant was designed for double its current size, and this first-stage expansion will accommodate growth patterns to be identified in the new Official Community Plan and the forthcoming update of the Liquid Waste Management Plan. The latter's top priorities a decade ago were Whiffin Spit North and expansion east across the Sooke River to Kaltasin so as to service T'Sou-ke IR 1, the two schools, industrial lands and, not least, residential areas with their barely above-sea level and sometimes failing septic systems.

The expansion will boost the water quality of the harbour and basin, already vastly improved from its high coliform-count state pre-sewer in the early ‘00s. In fact, it’s expected to be clean enough for renewed shellfish harvesting and the return of the once abundant Olympia oyster to local waters.

It's also a necessary prelude to once aspirational, now increasingly tangible plans by both Sooke and T'Sou-ke to jumpstart economic activity on serviced commercial/industrial land that will host local jobs as we redirect the commuter tide, cut GHG transportation emissions (6.1 tonnes of C02e per year per ICE car making the roundtrip to Victoria) and build more of a complete, connected community.

Timeline: Design phase begins in September; contract tendering next summer; completion by end of 2023. First new link will be to connect T'Sou-ke IR2 along Wright Road as approved in 2017 (i.e., Whiffin Spit North).

So yes, good news for the bottom line that smells surprisingly sweet given the source material."

(see enlargeable versions of these two infographic maps on pp. 190/191 of the Dec. 13, 2021 council agenda) 

Slowed by Covid initially, but now off and running at fever (but definitely not, I tested negative last week) pitch. On this first day of advance voting, I figure it's timely to provide a one-stop overview of how I'm presenting myself on this third campaign go-round. 

My small stock of signs, all produced in 2014 (thank you Tony Green), are again planted courtesy of my pals Ross Reid and Koshin Moonfist. Below you'll find the typo-free, zero-waste version of my brochure, printed by Sooke Copy Centre on recycled stock for door-to-door delivery by campaign manager/helpmate/beloved Carolyn and myself over the next 10 days. (Two hundred of them will feature a single black-ink correction that decommissions Major Tait and returns her formal title Sigh! My fault entirely, humbly and hopefully humorously acknowledged at council's closing meeting the other night  in recognition that I've been council's unofficial typo hawk when it comes to District minutes.) 

I've also launched my refreshed campaign website here. I go on at predictable length about what I believe has been accomplished by council and District staff in collaboration with council's half-dozen committees, one task force and assorted consultants (Urban Systems, DIALOG, Stantec, Urbanics, CitySpaces, Keycorp) and service-agreement partners. 

​It's a substantial track record, I think, and yet relatively early days on some longer-term fronts apart from the all-action progress on the active Transportation Master Plan (including design for the bypass route and build-out of car/bike/sidewalk town-centre routes on Otter Point, Church and, next, Charters).  Sooke's increasingly well-designed and info-packed annual reports for 2019, 2020 and 2021 capture the considerable ongoing work in detail. 

Bright visions, smart recommendations and proposed action plans galore -- underway to a degree but in routine need of ongoing attention, care, advocacy, stewardship and funding (grants, taxes, reserves and staff time) as we move forward in these unpredictable inflationary times. The current 5.5% year-to-year jump in prices (but much more in some sectors, construction costs in particular) means, as i say at the website, that we can't lose sight of the District's primary responsibility to deliver the mandated local government basics (public safety, operations, parks, wastewater, bylaws, corporate services) first and above all else.

Back to the point of this post: To share what I've already shared elsewhere in recent weeks. 
 
1. Text of my address at Saturday's EMCS candidates event 
2. Capital Daily 
3. Sooke News Mirror 
4. Livable Greater Victoria
​5. Times Colonist 

I will add more as I file them. (There are MANY requests for feedback, and I confess i find them a bit overwhelming while still hoping to meet their various deadlines. As co-chair of the Sooke Homelessness Coalition, for instance, I regret  missing a chance to weigh in on the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness survey with its too-early-for-Covid-dazed-me deadline. Only Anna Russell and Susan Belford replied from Sooke.) 

Council candidates' platform session, EMCS Community Theatre 
High-five to the Sooke Chamber and the Sooke Multi-Belief Initiative for organizing another in its series of purposefully non-confrontational dialogues in recent years (federal, provincial, now municipal).  All but two of the candidates attended. As I wrote after-the-fact on Facebook: "Mayor Tait absolutely shone during her 40 minutes (no surprise whatsoever) and every last candidate who stepped to the mic presented themselves well. Credit and thanks to everyone, especially the 200 or so who sat in the shadowy (but comfy with those new seats) confines of the Community Theatre on a glorious end-of-summer day."  Video replay. 

Here's my text which I abbreviated a little to beat the two-minute stoplight operated by the gentleman from Sooke Toastmasters.  

"Good afternoon everyone. I’m Jeff Bateman, and I’m running for re-election on October 15.

These last years have been incredibly eventful for all of us. I avoided Covid until recently and am happy to report I’m on the far side of it … while maintaining a persistent cough that I fear will interrupt this speech … but I’ll carry on regardless. 

And that’s my theme today: I want to carry on to see through the directions that the current council and staff team have initiated since 2018.

You will find those directions captured explicitly in the new master plans and reports we’ve endorsed:

- Transportation
- Parks & Trails
- Community Development
- Climate Action
- Housing Needs

And, of course, our pending Official Community Plan – which will be in the hands of the next council for what I trust will be a final round of public and expert stakeholder input.

I rate the OCP as exceptionally good document that reinforces themes found in all our other plans dating back 50 years.
I want to paraphrase what the Advisory Committee said they heard from YOU the public …

1. The strong desire to maintain and enhance Sooke’s unique character.
2. Environmental Protection
3. Focused Town Centre growth
4. Good relations with the T’Sou-ke Nation
5. Improved road networks to deal with our growing traffic jams
6. United community support for climate action.

So yes, let’s address all these things – with planning, patience, persistence, fiscal responsibility, advocacy and action.

No question: There are huge challenges ahead. The main one, for me, is to find the sweet spot for our population capacity. Our mostly two-lane highway is a very real limit to growth. We must deal with this hard fact before we wind up in our worst gridlock nightmare.

In the weeks leading up to last week’s public hearing, I’ve heard some misleading statements …

- That the new OCP will clear-cut Sooke and turn us into Langford.
- That the District wants to ban wood-burning stoves
- That our Climate Action Plan will cost millions.

I can only advise you to do your own research, get the facts and please trust me on this ... In my direct experience, District staff and your current Mayor and council have this community’s very best interests at heart.

All of us – and I’m sure I can say this for everyone on this stage – want to be of sincere service to the Sooke we seek to serve.

Thank you."


Capital Daily Questionnaire
There were word-count limits on most of the questions, but not those related to climate change and housing needs, so i went longer with those answers while cramming things tight elsewhere.  See the e-publication's full Candidate Database here. Seven of Sooke's 23 candidates have responded to date. No deadline on this one, so I urge others to jump in. Such a good opportunity to stake out a unique position based on fixed answers from the likes of me, Anna, Susan, Britt, Lorien, Nick and Maja. 

​Transportation Issues: Solution to Sooke's traffic congestion: Recognition of community's population capacity when served by a two-lane highway + focus on town-centre bypass route +  job creation and telework advocacy + improved transit service + regionally: RapidBus expansion and future service via Island Rail Corridor
 
What are the three most pressing issues in your community that council has the power to change? 1. Growth pressures to be managed through implementation of short-term, complete-community priorities in Sooke's new masterplans. 2. Traffic congestion (see previous answer under Transportation). 3. Advocacy for improved health care facilities and affordable housing.
 
How would you better address them?*   As part of the existing council, I believe we are responding smartly and strategically in managing accelerated growth. No magic fixes possible, so we must stay focused on our modernized plans and find ways to advance their short/medium-term priorities.
 
 Police in my community need...*  "Additional officers as we work towards the goal of 24/7 policing and more routine local speed enforcement. Funding for two more officers is identified in the 2022-2026 Financial Plan and will bring us near the provincial per-capita average for police detachments."  
 
Young people in my community are...*  "Our best hope for a challenging future, of course. Sooke has an excellent K-12 system, specialized trades, robotics and food-security training, and ever-expanding recreational facilities. See: https://www.jeffbateman.ca/blog/state-of-sookes-youth-nation-2021." 
 
If I could ask the province for one thing for my community, it would be...* "Funding for a primary health care centre in Sooke akin to Langford's Westshore Urgent Primary Care Centre, already the busiest in BC. (Urgent care drop-in hours in Sooke are  currently afternoons-only Monday-to-Friday)." [Major Tait has been lobbying hard for this for eight years now; I joined her for an advocacy meeting with Health Minister Dix during UBCM in Whistler last month.]
 
 Council's ability to respond to climate change is...*  "Significant at a local level in collaboration with staff, citizens, the business community, non-profits and CRD, provincial and federal partners. This council has endorsed Sooke's first Climate Action Plan and its companion Community Economic Development Strategy. Both are realistic, made-in-Sooke approaches that promote local quality of life while pursuing cuts in building and transportation emissions (the main sources of community GHG). Council can prioritize actions within these and Sooke's updated master plans to value natural assets and speed the evolution of a more walkable, rideable smart-growth community via safe-routes-to-schools, "complete streets" road development (serving pedestrians, cyclists and cars), park acquisition, an urban forest strategy, local job creation and more. The District can lead by example and encourage citizens to act independently (a prime focus of the Climate Action Plan with its call to re-evaluate how we all move, grow, build and relate.)"
 
I will work to fix the housing crisis by...*  "Continuing focus on priorities in Sooke's Housing Needs Report. These include: i) Densification with market-rate and affordable homes and rentals in the town centre (600+ such units now approved); ii) "Gentle densification" with multiplexes and other affordable housing types (as recommended by Small Housing BC) elsewhere in the sewer-specified area; iii) Development of seniors-oriented town-centre units to allow downsizing; iv) Support for homeowners wishing to add secondary units; v) Encouragement for new cooperative housing and manufactured home parks; and vi) Advocacy for BC Building Code revisions to permit tiny homes. Re-establishment of Sooke's Affordable Housing Committee is required." 
 
 Families in my community need...*  "1. Accommodation options across the housing spectrum. 2. Robust health care services. 3. Ready access to shops, services, recreation, artistic activities, public library, playgrounds and green spaces via trails, safe streets and public transit. 4. An excellent K-12 school system. 5. Responsive policing and fire services. 6. All-ages employment opportunities. 7. Multi-generational gathering place. 8. Age-Friendly BC planning to allow older adults to remain active, engaged, healthy, independent and involved. 9. A sense of neighbourhood identity and community pride." 
 
To me, reconciliation means...* "Life-long listening and learning (respectfully, compassionately) while locally addressing the TRC's Calls to Action where and when possible. Reviving and acting on a largely inert 2007 Memorandum of Understanding with the T'Sou-ke is one of the current council's leading achievements."


Sooke News Mirror Questions 
Understandably short-and-sweet (100 word maximum; I delivered 99) given that our print weekly must dedicate space to  answers from 33 (!) candidates when school trustees are factored in. 

Top Three Issues

1.      Population Capacity
2.      Traffic Congestion 
3.      Affordable Housing 

 
"I’m seeking re-election to continue the work of the last four years. I’ve grown more comfortable with the heavy workload and the process. I believe we’re on the right track. We must adopt the new OCP, then create a new Zoning Bylaw and Town Centre Plan. In inflationary times, we must deliver municipal essentials first (roads, wastewater, police, fire, etc.) and proceed where possible with short-term actions identified in our master plans. Recognizing Sooke’s population limits given our largely two-lane highway, building out the bypass, advocating for better health care and creating affordable housing is critical. More at www.jeff4sooke.com."  (My attempt to be clever and push readers to my website failed when the editor removed my weblink, leaving my final word count at 95 in the published version.) 


Answers to "Four Big Ideas" Raised by Livable Victoria 
Livable Victoria is "a diverse group of professionals and community members who share a passion for making our region a more sustainable, vibrant, healthy, and inclusive place to live. Together, we aim to provide a balanced perspective and help foster more thoughtful dialogue, advocate for positive change, and encourage bold leadership during this year's municipal election.Our Big Ideas are focused on Greater Victoria’s built environment, reflecting our areas of expertise and the jurisdiction of local governments, while recognizing that many important subjects are not covered by our recommendations (e.g. social policy)." 

Big Idea #1: Scale-up and facilitate the rapid development of social housing across the region 
 - Removing barriers, incentivizing, and/or expediting approval processes for social housing (such as pre-zoning, allowing for higher levels of density, waiving development fees, and providing property tax breaks)?
 - Using existing public lands and/or acquiring new public lands for social housing?
 
 
"Sooke's pending Official Community Plan (now through the public hearing stage as steered by the current council of which I'm a part) captures this to a significant degree  in its Housing Policies and Action section (pp. 135-141). 
 
- "Continue to enhance rental supply through the creative use of municipal incentives, density bonus, selective DCC discounts, reduced parking requirements, and other programs." 

- "Consider using District of Sooke land for future development that supports realization of housing objectives." 

- "Explore tax exemptions, Development Cost Charge reductions, and other funding mechanisms to support housing affordability." 

- "Rezone large lot parcels for smaller parcel sizes and subdivisions as well as cooperative ownership structures." 
 
Pre-zoning will be possible when Sooke adopts a new Zoning Bylaw following OCP adoption. I agree with utilization of public lands, however resist indicating "strongly" since Sooke has a modest stock of such land and five-year plan budget priorities are focused on build-out of active transportation corridors in our town centre. We continue to support advocacy efforts with BC Housing for 75 seniors affordable rental units above our planned intergenerational community centrein our town centre Lot A (in addition to the 250 units of BC Housing subsidized and below-market accommodation set to open in 2023.)" 
 
Big Idea #2: Build an abundance of housing and implement policies to promote affordability 
- Updating zoning bylaws to allow townhouses, houseplexes, and low-rise apartments in residential neighbourhoods?
- IIncentivizing purpose-built rental housing (such as pre-zoning areas and allowing for greater densities compared to strata ownership housing)?
 
"The pending OCP reaffirms Sooke's long-standing desire for a complete, compact community with density focused in our town centre. It also promotes "gentle density" (townhouses and micro-units in multi-family zones) in TBD site-specific spots within our sewer-specified area west of the Sooke River. Secondary suites have been allowed in all Sooke zones for more than a decade. The OCP calls for the District to assist homeowners and the building trade with workshops to increase the stock of such suites."
 
Big Idea #3: Plan neighbourhoods for sustainability and human well-being. 
- Encouraging the development of commercial village centres so all residents are within a 15-minute walk of daily goods and services?
- Removing minimum parking requirements for new housing?
 
"1. Walkability is a guiding principle of the new OCP and Sooke's town centre planning. A limited number of small-scale neighbourhood commercial nodes (Sunriver, Kaltasin, Broom Hill, Whiffin Spit) are also required to serve those living outside the town centre and will be identified through Neighbourhood Area Plan community engagement. 
 
2. Removing minimum parking requirements would speed uptake of affordable and social housing, however market-rate housing requires continued minimums here in the penturbia where the average household has 1.9 cars (CRD, 2017). Developers need to ensure necessary off-street parking, including garages used as such rather than as storage spaces. I would appreciate reading further staff reports on the subject."
 
Big Idea #4: Invest in pedestrian, bike-and-roll, and transit infrastructure 
- Expanding the all-ages-and-abilities bike-and-roll network to ensure all residences have convenient access to the network?
- Collaborating with BC Transit to accelerate the implementation of the Victoria Transit Future Plan?
 
 "Enacting recommendations Sooke's Transportation Master Plan -- an active transportation plan with a user hierarchy topped by pedestrians -- is a short-term priority for Sooke and has begun with rebuilds of the town-centre corridors on Otter Point, Church Rd. and now hopefully Charters pending receipt of provincial grant funding to be announced in 2023. All Ages & Abilities public trail connectivity and wayfinding has progressed in association with the Juan de Fuca Community Trails Society with development of the Stickleback and Seawalk trails  The transportation plan prioritizes safe-routes to schools and transit corridors with next-build sidewalk/bike lane routes identified on Rhodenite, Beaton/Pyrite, Charters and on Phillips Rd. near SEAPARC. 
 
Sooke's interim Climate Action Coordinator is now employed with the CRD Climate Action team as a micro-mobility specialist, and she will be advancing regional initiatives applicable in Sooke. Our TMP calls for e-bike charging stations in the town centre.  
 
BC Transit's Sooke Local Area Transit Plan (adopted 2020) has been delayed by Covid impacts, however Major Tait continues to push for its implementation through her role with the Victoria Regional Transit System. Sooke already has region-high per-capita ridership, and increased frequency of regional routes and introduction of new local routes will increase it further (especially if the introduction of local Sooke service was to be incentivized with time-limited reduced rates or free-transit for youth and means-tested adults.)

A RapidBus hub in Langford will be welcome.  Sooke council has joined other CRD municipalities in lobbying the province and federal government to fund the Island Rail Corridor; its proposed Victoria Commuter Train 1 and 2 rush-hour and mid-day service from Westhills Station to Victoria would serve Sooke commuters well."


Times Colonist

Tell us about your previous elected and/or community experience. (80-100 words)
I was elected in 2018 following a near-miss in 2014. As a councillor, I've served with the Capital Regional District (Alternate Director), the Vancouver Island Regional Library board and the Sooke Homelessness Coalition (co-chair). Pre-election, I regularly attended council meetings on behalf of Transition Sooke, for whom I served as president for four years. I was also a two-term president of the Edward Milne Community School Society; a co-founder of Zero Waste Sooke, the Sooke Multi-Belief Initiative and the Sooke Farmland Trust Society; and a public appointee to the District's Climate Action Committee (chair) and Community Centre Advisory Committee. 

Why are you running? What's your motivation? (80-100 words)
I'm seeking re-election to continue the work initiated by our current council led by Mayor Maja Tait. This includes adoption of the pending Official Community Plan and enactment of short-term priorities within Sooke's new set of master plans and strategies -- Community Economic Development, Climate Action, Transportation, Parks & Trails and Housing Needs. Major development is coming to Sooke's town centre, and I'd like to work with council and staff to ensure it aligns with the community vision. 
 
What are your top three issues? (80-100 words)
1. Protection of rural character while also developing a "Sooke Smart Growth" waterfront town centre that places shops, services, amenities, office space and health care amidst moderately dense housing.  
 
2. The critical need to recognize that Sooke has a finite population capacity given the reality of an increasingly congested two-lane (mostly) Highway 14. 
 
3. Traffic volume and flow, which can be addressed to a degree through local job creation, land-use decisions that avoid sprawl, teleworking initiatives, implementation of BC Transit's Local Area Plan, and construction of the Throup/Grant Road bypass route.  

What's your vision for your community in 25 years? (100-125 words)
My vision echoes that of Sooke’s pending OCP, which in turn aligns with local plans dating back a half century at least. By 2048, we will be a fully resilient, emergency-prepared, climate-and-energy smart community. Our harbourside village centre will feature commercial/residential low-rises, independent shops, restaurants, cultural amenities, pocket parks and extended oceanfront walkway.  We identified our population maximum and have lobbied the province to add an additional lane to Sooke Road to lessen rush-hour impacts each way. The Troupe/Grant active transportation bypass route and an expanded, well-utilized trail network are complete. The sewer system has been installed east to Kaltasin Rd., guaranteeing renewed shellfish harvesting and sparking light-industrial enterprise at the point where the T’Sou-ke Nation meets Sooke. Our rural character outside the town centre remains beautifully intact and the leading reason we are a food secure, age-friendly community. 

​

Now getting ready for tonight's OCP Public Hearing, 7 PM at the Municipal Hall (which I'll attend virtually due to my health and bark-like cough.)  The agenda is posted here. It includes the bylaw with revisions current through its second reading. You'll find it in PDF form here. (Save a copy like i do, and you can search its depth to your heart's content.) All of the public engagement and supplemental documents are available here. 

A steady trickle (not floodplain's worth) of form emails are arriving in council's mailbox today that read: "I'm opposed to the new OCP with inclusion of any Development Permits. There are additional edits that must be made." That's it and that's all. There is no further explanation about the why and what of their opposition nor citations about required edits. (All along with some fuller correspondence will be included in a supplemental agenda published later this afternoon). 

I voted on Sept. 8 in favour of moving us to this public hearing because I am a fan of the plan, first and foremost. I agree with the OCP Advisory Committee (Mrs. Lewers notably excepted in a 6-1 vote) that it is ready for primetime. And I want us to get to this legislated next step (which is still short of third reading and adoption).

As one who strives for consensus decisions, I'm upset that council was divided 4-3 on whether to go to the hearing. I respect my colleagues, especially Mayor Tait, whose leadership, views and opinion I so value. (My father, the Colonel's, voice from beyond urges: Follow your leader!). Calling a halt tonight and allowing the next council to finish the job makes good sense as she explains it. A truce would lead to all quiet on the western front and give time for another round of input, and that is both logical and appealing.

Yet I can't shake the idea that an entirely unpredictable new council crew from the 23 contenders could hijack the process and throw this excellent plan under the bus. [No Development Permit Guidelines? No opportunity for staff to regulate the form and character of new development when it comes to sub-divisions of four or more homes and mixed-use larger projects? Where praytell is the sense in that?]

I have tried my very best to address concerns raised by a small, vocal, influential group by asking questions at our OCP meetings and by writing blog entries like the one that precedes this one. 

They will be out in numbers tonight, too, I'm sure, as is the case at all public hearings. (Check out this recent SFU report - https://www.democracydialogue.ca/publichearings. Downsides are captured in this quote: "While a noisy minority tends to dominate public hearings, the silent majority of reasonable people are by definition never heard. Elected officials therefore are forced to pander to the skewed view of the vocal minority of voters present, rather than doing what they have been already elected to do, which is make the best decision for the future of the community overall.")

I'll share the PS from my above-linked blog post in full here with apologies to those of you who prefer the two-line email mode of communcation. Yes, I do tend to complicate things when perhaps I should stick with text-message headlines and bold, context-free statements (this OCP "will clear-cut Sooke," for instance) as others like to do.

Okay, here's the cut-and-paste ...

"Even with all the public feedback to date, I naturally wonder what comments will emerge during the public hearing whenever it's scheduled.

As Councillor Beddows, the OCP Advisory Committee liaison, has noted, council dealt promptly this spring with the major concerns that emerged from the first-wave responses to the draft OCP:

1. The proposed 30m waterfront setback requirement for new subdivisions of four-or-more homes (now reinstated at 15m as per Sooke tradition).

2. Potential density increases in the Whiffin Spit neighbourhood (now returned to its Rural Residential designation).

3. The re-inclusion of phase three of West Ridge Trails in the Community Residential, not rural, designation (while knowing that the development still must secure rezoning and sewer inclusion before it can proceed.)

What else might arise at the public-hearing? I've taken pains to raise concerns from the public engagement packages in my questions to staff during the chapter reviews -- including points raised by Farrell Estates and the Concerned Citizens of Sooke (Randy Clarkston, Dave Saunders, Dave McClimon, Matt Mortenson and Brian Butler). Both Councillor McMath and I drew questions from the latter's correspondence at the July 19 chapter review re: DPA overreach, the "hidden density issue," transportation and costing.

Certainly there's been confusion over the so-called "hidden density issue" during OCP deliberations. The proposed bylaw's Growth Management and Land Use section (starting on pg. 57) cites a maximum density of 70 units per hectare in the Community Residential designation (i.e., the Sewer Specified Area west of the Sooke River).

Does this mean that Community Residential landowners would be free to dramatically densify their single-family lots and we'd see cluster housing on what are now single-family streets, turning Sooke into wall-to-wall suburbia? What a nightmare!

I personally have asked staff in public meetings about this at least four times now in response to public concerns. They and the OCP consultants have replied with what the document itself (pg. 60) states: "Maximum densities within each designation will be informed by the policy direction of the OCP and the site-specific zoning provided in the Zoning Bylaw."

The OCP policy direction is for density in the Town Centre Core, Town Centre Transitional and Town Centre Waterfront designations. Period. (And up to a point: The 2009 Town Centre Plan, which is due to be revised as a first priority action following OCP adoption, envisions net growth in the TC of 1400 residents by 2050.) It in no way recommends density (i.e., sprawl) beyond this town centre.

A new Zoning Bylaw is required following the adoption of every new OCP in BC. Our pending OCP allows six-storey buildings in (zoning-specified spots only) north of Sooke Rd. in the Town Centre and only along the two sides of Brownsey Blvd. south of it. (Interestingly, the current zoning bylaw's High-Density Multi-Family RM-4 category allows a maximum of 90 units per hectare. Ayre Manor and West Wind Harbour are the only spots so designated. The CD7 zoning for Mariner's Village allows 50 units per hectare maximum.)

Regarding costing, no OCP I've ever seen includes a price tag for proposed actions. Instead, they are subject to cost analysis when prioritized by council and staff for consideration in each successive year's Five-Year Financial Plan. If the money's not there or the tax hit too heavy, then a specific action remains on paper and aspirational, as so many have done in the 2010 OCP. Still entirely worth honouring community OCP input, however, by capturing our wishes and best aspirations on paper, of course.

[Predicted capital expenses in 2020 dollars are, however, included for actions recommended by theTransportation (pg. 67-69) andParks & Trails (pp. 71-75) master plans. There are also very loose estimates of costs for Appendix H items in theClimate Action Plan, whose one $$$ item relates to implementation costs for those same master plans. See my lengthy explanation in the PPS below.]

The plan concludes with a set of Development Permit Area (DPA) guidelines that are critical in particular for the town centre as growth picks up momentum. They include Sooke's first set of DPAs for "energy and water conservation, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions,"permitted by the Local Government Act not long after BC introduced (and Sooke promptly signed) the B.C. Climate Action Charter in 2008.

I believe this is where the OCP is criticized as being "overly perscriptive," yet I'm not sure how these flexible rules, applicable on a case-by-case basis, can be anything but exact and on point. As the province states, they "govern locations that need special treatment for certain purposes, including the protection of development from hazards, establishing objectives for form and character in specified circumstances or revitalization of a commercial use area."

Some municipalities include these guidelines in their zoning bylaws, others in their OCPs. I honestly can't fathom suggestions from some that the the DPA section be axed entirely, especially after seeing how the guidelines are so central in ongoing staff/developer negotiations re: the mixed-use proposal for Brownsey Blvd.'s west side. How else can we ensure the community gets what it wants and expects from incoming developers as determined by documents like the Town Centre Plan?

(DPA exemptions apply, incidentally, to anyone building a single-family home, duplex or accessory building, those needing to remove hazardous trees or undertake yard and garden landscaping, among other exceptions. See pg. 178/79.)
​
Unsurprisingly, the OCP conversation this year has been led by a minority with specific concerns. These concerns are absolutely valid, as are those of all 15,086 (2021 census) residents of Sooke. It's great that other engagement methods -- online surveys, community sounding boards, virtual stakeholder consultations with numerous community groups and organizations, school sessions and more -- captured wide input, too, but arguably less than had COVID not struck and eliminated in-person town halls and the like."

Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 800 returns for another special council meeting tomorrow evening (Sept. 8) at 5 PM. We'll be looking at the latest (third) version that includes changes we suggested during our chapter reviews.

At this second-reading stage (where no public input is legislatively permitted, but you're entirely welcome to attend), we will contemplate three options as stated in the opening pages of the massive agenda package that includes the April (second) draft, a track-change iteration and a file of public commentary received since the first draft was released 11 months ago. 

These options are: 

1. Approve the amendments, give the OCP its second reading and book a public hearing (tentatively set for Tues., Sept. 27).

2. Suggest further text amendments as alterations or additions. 

​3. Reject the amendments and offer alternative actions, among which (as council has already discussed) is the option of shelving it during this election period so that the new council can decide next steps when it takes office two short months from now.

For our part, this here-and-now council has demonstrated, and will likely do so again tomorrow, that we're of multiple minds about this. Some want to move forward and complete the work. Others would like to pause and further consider the one community planning document that rules them all. 

As ever with my middle-way mindset, I can see the logic in both approaches. Whatever the case, I believe we've met objective 3.1.2 in the 2019-22 Strategic Plan to "develop a new Official Community Plan." After two years, this one has definitely been developed to a ripe if perhaps not quite ready for primetime stage. 

Personally, as I've said at previous meetings, I believe this OCP is a solid, timely, best-practice community plan that meets legislative requirements, captures a compelling vision of Sooke's future and offers a comprehensive range of policies backed by an implementation plan to get us there given all the imponderables and budget considerations that can hinder progress. (Such as basic operational costs subject to 7.6% inflation, for instance.)  

As the OCP Advisory Committee states in its preamble (aka executive summary, see pg. 4-7), its members heard six recurring themes from the public during the 2020/21 engagement period: 

1. The strong desire to maintain and enhance the unique character of Sooke
2. The importance of protecting our natural environment
3. The need for focused growth and support for infrastructure enhancements in the Town Centre
4. The importance of building upon and enhancing Sooke's historic and productive relationship with the T'Sou-ke
5. The need for improved transportation infrastructure and strategies to address vehicular congestion
6. Our community's united support for collective efforts to address climate change. 

These matters are all addressed fully in the draft OCP, writes the OCP-AC (which voted six to one early this year in favour of approving the draft; Chair Helen Ritts, Norm Amirault, Terry Cristall, Steve Grundy, Linda MacMillan and Siomonn Pulla in favour; Ellen Lewers against.)

Chiefly for me, the pending OCP is absolutely consistent with earlier District OCPs (2010, 2001) and CRD plans dating back to the 1976 Sooke Area Settlement Plan. in all these documents, the public and their elected representatives have recognized that population growth is to be focused on the town centre as the heart of the "complete and compact community" that the CRD Regional Growth Strategy requires of Sooke.  Also reaffirmed is that relatively modest growth is to take place in the sewer-specified area and that elsewhere the District is to retain its rural and forested nature. 

Mission accomplished with a modernized Sooke Smart Growth plan. In the new OCP, the TC is given better definition with core, waterfront and transitional designations.  The document critically aligns itself with all the other orders of government, Canadian and international, that recognize we must rethink business as usual on the increasingly electric highway to 2050.  

This it does through a positive (not alarmist) community development perspective captured so sweetly and simply in the 29-word OCP vision statement (honed from first-wave public input in 2020): "Sooke is a small town with a big heart. It is a vibrant net-zero emissions community, cradled in the stunning beauty and vitality of the ocean and forest." Text-message short, but a nice summary of public opinion about the hometown in which we all want to reside

As for enacting its ambitions, half the OCP is dedicated to policies and actions regarding paramount community priorities -- transportation, natural environment, parks and trails, green building, infrastructure, food security, community economic development, arts and culture, housing, recreation and fair, equitable, compassionate values made real. (And it makes clear how these topics are explored in suitable depth in mostly recently updated District plans and reports that must legally align with the OCP.) 

The time-stressed are advised to read the preamble, the Growth Management and Land Use section (starting on pg. 57) and also the Delivering Picture Sooke implementation section (pp. 157-174) with its 120 ongoing, short and medium-term actions in grid format. These pages should give you a sound basis for an informed opinion about the document as a whole. Reading the thing cover-to-cover is recommended, of course. 

The plan concludes with a set of Development Permit Area (DPA) guidelines that are critical in particular for the town centre as growth picks up momentum. They include Sooke's first set of DPAs for "energy and water conservation, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions," permitted by the Local Government Act not long after BC introduced (and Sooke promptly signed) the B.C. Climate Action Charter in 2008. 

I believe this is where the OCP is criticized as being "overly perscriptive," yet I'm not sure how these flexible rules, applicable on a case-by-case basis, can be anything but exact and on point. As the province states, they "govern locations that need special treatment for certain purposes, including the protection of development from hazards, establishing objectives for form and character in specified circumstances or revitalization of a commercial use area."  

Some municipalities include these guidelines in their zoning bylaws, others in their OCPs. I honestly can't fathom suggestions from some that the the DPA section be axed entirely, especially after seeing how the guidelines are so central in ongoing staff/developer negotiations re: the mixed-use proposal for Brownsey Blvd.'s west side. How else can we ensure the community gets what it wants and expects from incoming developers as determined by documents like the Town Centre Plan?

(DPA exemptions apply, incidentally, to anyone building a single-family home, duplex or accessory building, those needing to remove hazardous trees or undertake yard and garden landscaping, among other exceptions. See pg. 178/79.) 

Unsurprisingly, the OCP conversation this year has been led by a minority with specific concerns. These concerns are absolutely valid, as are those of all 15,086 (2021 census) residents of Sooke. It's great that other engagement methods
-- online surveys, community sounding boards, virtual stakeholder consultations with numerous community groups and organizations, school sessions and more -- captured wide input, too, but arguably less than had COVID not struck and eliminated in-person town halls and the like.   

(The current system by which local governments receive public input is like Churchill's comment about democacy: seriously flawed but better than the alternatives. Simon Fraser University's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue published a series of reports on BC public hearings earlier this year as part of its Strengthening Canadian Democracy program. Their downsides are captured in this statement: "While a noisy minority tends to dominate public hearings, the silent majority of reasonable people are by definition never heard. Elected officials therefore are forced to pander to the skewed view of the vocal minority of voters present, rather than doing what they have been already elected to do, which is make the best decision for the future of the community overall.")

Tomorrow Night's Meeting

I stated during the last chapter review that the OCP was likely "95% complete" - a guesstimate, of course, but that feels about right to me (always and ever, in my opinion). Revisions contributed by council, recommendations from referring agencies and any potential rewrites based on issues raised during the public hearing would get it to the finish line. 

At meeting's end on July 19, I  took the opportunity to read aloud a note council had received that day from OCP Advisory Committee Chair Helen Ritts: 

"Dear Mayor and Council: I am writing to voice my support for Council to give the draft OCP 2nd reading and work to finalize this OCP before the October municipal election. The April 2022 draft OCP is an accurate reflection of a specified and open OCP process, created through 18 months of public engagement. 

The role of Sooke residents in the OCP was to share their future vision of our community. The OCP Advisory Committee understood its role was to ensure that the OCP was brought to Council for 1st reading was an accurate summary of the majority of public respondents. As the chair of the OCP Committee, I am confident that our committee understood and delivering on this responsibility. The role of Council is to pass bylaws in support of the OCP and community vision. Barring any concerns about procedure, this OCP should be accepted as it is and put forward for public hearing. 

Sooke is growing rapidly. We need this plan ASAP to manage our growth successfully. 

Sincerely, Helen Ritts, Sooke, BC 
 
 I resonate with all Ms. Ritts writes, yet I still find myself on the fence and interested in hearing from my colleagues tomorrow.  
 
I do like the thought of moving to second reading and setting the stage for a public hearing late this month. Election season is soon to be in full swing, and it would be an opportunity for the community to gather for a robust discussion focused on our community's most significant document. I can't imagine a more substantial election issue than that.
 
Then again, as i think further, a public hearing at this pivotal point in the election cycle would likely give an unfair advantage to incumbent councillors, we who've gained intimate knowledge by pouring through its 240 pages repeatedly. Whereas other candidates for office would get their turn at the mic like everyone else, we would remain front-and-centre to a degree throughout the night. That's arguably unfair to others on the ballot, and I suspect that's how I'd feel if I was on the outside looking in. 
 
I also understand the logic that the District might be wise to develop this OCP a little further still through another round of public engagement -- this time minus the distant and distanced COVID restrictions, conducted in-person and using the text as it now stands as the starting point for discussion and review of the proposed policies and actions. 

With at least five of us running for re-election in October, I want to discuss what precisely we suggest be done next with this OCP should we indeed pause the process, retain our seats and find ourselves dealing with it in the New Year.  An important question, and one I will ponder further over the next 24 hours. 
 
​More from this blog ... 

* Draft OCP: My Appreciative Inquiry (Oct. 20, 2021)
* OCP Update - Fall 2021 (Sept. 4, 2021)
* Team OCP: Introducing the Advisory Committee (Aug. 8, 2020) 
* Masterplanning Sooke's Smart Growth: OCP Preview (Dec. 20, 2019) 
 
PS Even with all the public feedback to date, I naturally wonder what comments will emerge during the public hearing whenever it's scheduled.  
 
As Councillor Beddows, the OCP Advisory Committee liaison, has noted, council dealt promptly this spring with the major concerns that emerged from the first-wave responses to the draft OCP:

1. The proposed 30m waterfront setback requirement for new subdivisions of four-or-more homes (now reinstated at 15m as per Sooke tradition).

2. Potential density increases in the Whiffin Spit neighbourhood (now returned to its Rural Residential designation).

3. The re-inclusion of phase three of West Ridge Trails in the Community Residential, not rural, designation (while knowing that the development still must secure rezoning and sewer inclusion before it can proceed.) 


What else might arise at the public-hearing? I've taken pains to raise concerns from the public engagement packages in my questions to staff during the chapter reviews -- including points raised by Farrell Estates and the Concerned Citizens of Sooke (Randy Clarkston, Dave Saunders, Dave McClimon, Matt Mortenson and Brian Butler). Both Councillor McMath and I drew questions from the latter's correspondence at the July 19 chapter review re: DPA overreach, the "hidden density issue," transportation and costing.  

Certainly there's been confusion over the so-called "hidden density issue" during OCP deliberations. The proposed bylaw's Growth Management and Land Use section (starting on pg. 57) cites a maximum density of 70 units per hectare in the Community Residential designation (i.e., the Sewer Specified Area west of the Sooke River).  

Does this mean that Community Residential landowners would be free to dramatically densify their single-family lots and we'd see cluster housing on what are now single-family streets, turning Sooke into wall-to-wall suburbia? What a nightmare!  

I personally have asked staff in public meetings about this at least four times now in response to public concerns. They and the OCP consultants have replied with what the document itself (pg. 60) states: "Maximum densities within each designation will be informed by the policy direction of the OCP and the site-specific zoning provided in the Zoning Bylaw." 

The OCP policy direction is for density in the Town Centre Core, Town Centre Transitional and Town Centre Waterfront designations. Period.  (And up to a point: The 2009 Town Centre Plan, which is due to be revised as a first priority action following OCP adoption, envisions net growth in the TC of 1400 residents by 2050.)  It in no way recommends density (i.e., sprawl) beyond this town centre. 

A new Zoning Bylaw is required following the adoption of every new OCP in BC.  Our pending OCP allows six-storey buildings in (zoning-specified spots only) north of Sooke Rd. in the Town Centre and only along the two sides of Brownsey Blvd. south of it.  (Interestingly, the current zoning bylaw's High-Density Multi-Family RM-4 category allows a maximum of 90 units per hectare. Ayre Manor and West Wind Harbour are the only spots so designated. The CD7 zoning for Mariner's Village allows 50 units per hectare maximum.) 

Regarding costing, no OCP I've ever seen includes a price tag for proposed actions. Instead, they are subject to cost analysis when prioritized by council and staff for consideration in each successive year's Five-Year Financial Plan. If the money's not there or the tax hit too heavy, then a specific action remains on paper and aspirational, as so many have done in the 2010 OCP. Still entirely worth honouring community OCP input, however, by capturing our wishes and best aspirations on paper, of course. 

[Predicted capital expenses in 2020 dollars are, however, included for actions recommended by theTransportation (pg. 67-69) andParks & Trails (pp. 71-75) master plans. There are also very loose estimates of costs for Appendix H items in theClimate Action Plan, whose one $$$ item relates to implementation costs for those same master plans. See my lengthy explanation in the PPS below.]

The plan concludes with a set of Development Permit Area (DPA) guidelines that are critical in particular for the town centre as growth picks up momentum. They include Sooke's first set of DPAs for "energy and water conservation, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions,"permitted by the Local Government Act not long after BC introduced (and Sooke promptly signed) the B.C. Climate Action Charter in 2008. 

I believe this is where the OCP is criticized as being "overly perscriptive," yet I'm not sure how these flexible rules, applicable on a case-by-case basis, can be anything but exact and on point. As the province states, they "govern locations that need special treatment for certain purposes, including the protection of development from hazards, establishing objectives for form and character in specified circumstances or revitalization of a commercial use area."  

Some municipalities include these guidelines in their zoning bylaws, others in their OCPs. I honestly can't fathom suggestions from some that the the DPA section be axed entirely, especially after seeing how the guidelines are so central in ongoing staff/developer negotiations re: the mixed-use proposal for Brownsey Blvd.'s west side. How else can we ensure the community gets what it wants and expects from incoming developers as determined by documents like the Town Centre Plan?

(DPA exemptions apply, incidentally, to anyone building a single-family home, duplex or accessory building, those needing to remove hazardous trees or undertake yard and garden landscaping, among other exceptions. See pg. 178/79.) 

Unsurprisingly, the OCP conversation this year has been led by a minority with specific concerns. These concerns are absolutely valid, as are those of all 15,086 (2021 census) residents of Sooke. It's great that other engagement methods -- online surveys, community sounding boards, virtual stakeholder consultations with numerous community groups and organizations, school sessions and more -- captured wide input, too, but arguably less than had COVID not struck and eliminated in-person town halls and the like.   

PPS Cutting-and-pasting comments I've prepared for use about the Climate Action Plan as required. I'm told at least one climate-change skeptic is running for office and has already cited this cost misinformation.  Yes, I know all this is complicated and boring and bureaucratic, but hey, that's how this kind of local government rocket science works and my only option in cases like this is to bring out the facts. Thank you for your patience in trying to follow along. 

I want to address a misunderstanding about the high-level cost and staff resource estimates in the Climate Action Plan (CAP) – namely the suggestion that the plan will cost $4.5 million and require 22 FTE, as Councillor McMath stated at both our July 15 and 19 meetings. I understand the source of this confusion, I think, so here's an attempt to set it straight ...

The CAP’s high-level estimates are related to the Master List of Recommended Actions (Appendix H, pp. 56-78).  They are “meant to be an estimate to provide context for work planning and budgeting purposes, not a firm requirement.” 
 
Appendix H is comprised of all climate-related actions found in existing DOS plans, notably the Transportation Master Plan, the Parks & Trails Master Plan and the draft Official Community Plan. These cover the period 2022-2050. 
 
Duplicating cost estimations in the master plans, the only big-ticket item ($$$$ “over $1 million”) in Appendix H is related to “funding and implementing major PTMP and TMP capital projects” -- the costliest of which is the complete streets build-out that will provide active transportation corridors along new connector roads led by the Throup/Grant Rd. West bypass. (Active transportation = climate action). 
 
In the Climate Action Plan’s Appendix H, there are 21 categories for departmental action spread across the five focus areas.  19 of these categories qualify as $ Low - $0 - $50,000.  
 
Appendix I (pp. 74-88) features the 25 high-impact actions that District staff believe can be executed over the next five years. These actions will be costed out and presented to the next council during budget deliberations, as Ms. Gray told us. 
 
Last Monday night, Raechel and Maia answered questions about the staff icons in Appendix H. They do indeed add up to 22 FTE, however there is a great deal of overlap and much of the work is already built into workplans now and in future for existing employees. 
 
There is zero suggestion that 22 more employees would have to be hired. In fact, a long-awaited replacement for Sue Welke as Community Development Officer – aided and abetted by a Climate Action Coordinator, as the Climate Action Committee suggests in its July 25 motion – is what’s required. 

In calculating her figures, Cllr. McMath has cited the high end of all cost estimations, missed the point about duplication with costs of the roads projects that this council endorsed in approving the master plans,and has understandably misread the nature of the staff icons. Or so I interpret it at any rate. 

Reverse order by date. I've found that organizing my thoughts with related links for further reference as I do in all these posts is essential for ongoing council work as agenda topics routinely recycle. A useful strategy for an aging, distracted, rather overloaded mind (yes, I did my Wordle this morning, got it in five.). It's also something of a community service, I believe. My views and perspective keep evolving with experience (as with us all I was so encouraged to discover years ago when first learning about neuroplasticity.) It's true that my thoughts can be rather naive pre-election and sometimes post-election too, but I stand by all I've written here.  Please dive in and explore if and as you wish. 

(Council candidates are invited to join me for a Local Government 101 education and refresh here and here.) 

* Sparking #Sooke Community Development (Aug. 31, 2022)
* Our Up-Sooke-Sized Building Boom (Aug. 26, 2022)
* Highway 14 Revisited: Summer 2022 Edition (Jul. 22, 2022) 
* Bathroom Reading: Sooke Sewers & Expansion Plans (May 30, 2022) 
* BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) Sooke (May 12, 2022)
* Opening Day + Saga of the Sooke Library (Feb. 25, 2022)
* District 101: Facts & Figures from the Citizen Budget Survey (Nov. 30, 2021)
* Budget 2022 (Nov. 25, 2021)
* Draft OCP: My Appreciative Inquiry (Oct. 20, 2021)
* Addressing Homelessness (Visible, Invisible, Pending) in the Sooke Region (Oct. 15, 2021)
* Help Wanted: Interim Climate Action Coordinator (Oct. 12, 2021)
* OCP Update - Fall 2021 (Sept. 4, 2021)
* Paws In Ponds Corridor (July 26, 2021)
* Proposal: Sooke Lions Community Centre in the Park (July 9, 2021)
* Sooke Elder's Complex (aka Gathering Place) Update (June 21, 2021)
* Back to Basics: Food & Shelter Essentials (June 15, 2021)
* State of Sooke's Youth Nation (March 15, 2021) 
* Climate Action: Link Frenzy! - Sooke, Regional, Provincial, National, Global (Feb. 24, 2021)
* Context for Sooke Climate Action (Feb. 19, 2021)
* Help Wanted: Sooke Committees Update (Jan. 24, 2021) 
* What's Next for Sooke's Evolving Road, Sidewalk and Roundabout Network (Jan. 20, 2021)
* Sooke Fiscal 2021 and the BC Restart Fund (Nov. 22, 2020)
* Team OCP: Introducing the Advisory Committee (Aug. 8, 2020) 
* Parks & Transportation Masterplans (July 13, 2020) 
* Burning Issue: Fire Protection Services Bylaw (May 19, 2020)
* Masterplanning Sooke's Smart Growth: OCP Preview (Dec. 20, 2019) 
* The CRD Share of Your #Sooke Tax Bill (Nov. 13, 2019)
* $$$ (Start of a New Five-Year Financial Plan Cycle) (July 29, 2019)
* Climate Cha-Changes (May 17, 2019)
* Notes from Local Government Leadership Academy Seminars (April 10, 2019)
* Climate Change, Pot Shops and Four Lanes (April 7, 2019)
* Highway 14 Revisited: Spring 2019 Edition (March 29, 2019)
* Timbites Sooke (March 26, 2019) 
* Calling All Monopines: Cell Phone Towers (Jan. 27, 2019)
* Seeking Solutions in Saseenos: Lewers/Driver 2 (Jan. 16, 2019)
* X homes + Y people + Z cars = ? (Dec. 18, 2018)
* Council Report: 5 Hours, 47 Minutes Later (Dec. 6, 2018)
* Fresh Paint, Familiar Refrain for Sooke Road (Nov. 17, 2018)
* Learning Curve: Council Dynamics & Respectful Workplaces: Orientation Session (Nov. 6, 2018)
* Proposal: A Forest and the Trees Bylaw (Oct. 16, 2018)
* Verbateman Answers to the Voice News (Oct. 15, 2018)
* Fire Department Overview (Oct. 15, 2018)
* Me & Ms. Reay (Oct. 14, 2018)
* Quoting Myself: All Candidates Debate (Oct. 12, 2018)
* Lemons = Non-Conforming Lemonade: Lewers/Driver 1 (Oct. 11, 2018)
* Thoughts on the Arts (Oct. 10, 2018)
* Zero Waste Version of My 2018 Brochure (Oct. 8, 2018)
* Campaign 2018: Back to the Blog (Oct. 8, 2018)
* No More Tankers: A National Energy Board Submission (Oct. 4, 2018)
* Tonight @ Council (April 13, 2015)
* My CGI Dreams for Sooke (April 13, 2015)
* It Takes A Community (Nov. 11, 2014)
* Looking Glass: Sooke News Mirror Q&A (Nov. 6, 2014)
* Cycling Forward (Nov. 3, 2014)
* Sooke Voice News Questionnaire (Oct. 29, 2014)
* CFAX Candidates Survey: My Responses (Oct. 20, 2014)
* More on the Subjective Sooke News (Oct. 13, 2014)
* The Good (Oct. 9, 2014)
​* First Thoughts (Oct. 6, 2014) 

[I offer for your listening pleasure this Tom Tom Club (Talking Heads offshoot) tune from a bygone era when I was writing about music and the music industry in Toronto, never dreaming back then that I'd one day relocate to the far west coast, get interested in local governance and trade my IBM selectric for the iMacs on which I've typed so many wordy words. Oh, and my debut item still rings entirely true for me. Blessed beyond measure. Period. Full stop. End of post.]
​

As I did last fall when Sooke was seeking its first interim Climate Action Coordinator,  I emailed a range of contacts the other day with news of the final week of the District's search for a Community Economic Development Officer.  I did so in case they knew of any likely candidates, and I'll repeat the call here in vastly expanded (what else?) fashion in case you might know a certain someone in your own circles.  

All details are on the District's careers page. Application deadline is this Monday, Sept. 5. The job description states: "Reporting to the Chief Administrative Officer, the Community Economic Development Officer (CEDO) is responsible for creating an economic environment focused on attracting and retaining commercial businesses while advancing economic, environmental, and social goals. The CEDO is also responsible for the design and implementation of the community economic development strategy for the District of Sooke which will, among other initiatives, stimulate business activity and investment in the District." 

That's a tall order and requires an individual as uniquely suitable it's to be hoped as Sue Welke, the Albertan with ED and climate action expertise who was hired as Sooke's first-ever CED Officer in early 2021. She did much essential work with the Community Economic Development and Climate Action committees, and then decided, to everyone's understanding and considerable regret, to return home to Edmonton to care for ailing family. 

Ms. Welke authored the District's first Community Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan in collaboration with the CED Committee. She also secured the grant funding that hired interim Climate Action Coordinator Maia Carolsfeld. The latter, in turn, delivered Sooke's first-ever Climate Action Plan this summer and helped develop the Sooke 2030 citizen engagement campaign.  (With her contract ending earlier this month, Ms. Carolsfeld has taken a micro-mobility position within the CRD's Climate Action Team and we're counting on her to keep Sooke in the loop with regional programs and initiatives.)  

Strategic community development, by definition, is what's required to realize the policies and vision of the new Official Community Plan. Climate action is intimately related, and both these District staff positions -- CEDO and Climate Action Coordinator -- need to be filled full-time, I and many believe.

For now, however, it's great that we're getting back on track with CED following Welke's departure. (A complementary Climate Action Coordinator position to coordinate the Climate Action Plan, meanwhile, is entirely feasible through the Province of BC's Local Government Climate Action Program, which will deliver a guaranteed $135k in climate-explicit funding annually for three years. Unlike most such grants, it's flexible enough to cover salaries as well as various CAP priorities.) 

Chief Administrative Officer Norm McInnis has championed and facilitated CED in Sooke. With enthusiastic council approval, he sourced expertise and best practices from the Province of BC's Regional Economic Operations Branch, consulted with local stakeholders, crafted the Terms of Reference for the first CED Committee, created the CEDO position and hired Welke. 

Here's the overview paragraph she prepared for the Sooke CED Strategy:  "The District of Sooke has chosen to create a Community Economic Development (CED) Strategy, a holistic, integrated and people- and environment-oriented view of the economy as opposed to a more traditional profits-/money-first approach to the economy. Sooke’s economic development is oriented to promoting environmental health as well as human well-being and safety in a climate-changing world. It is clear from community feedback that a focus should be on supporting locally-owned businesses in Sooke, reducing economic leakage, and creating jobs in Sooke. The CED Strategy and Action Plan provides guidance to the District of Sooke about industrial and commercial development, and does not address residential development.

This is Sooke’s first CED Strategy, and it is a work in progress, to be further developed and modified in partnership with the whole community. The District and the community will review progress on the Strategy as time goes by and will continue to provide direction to the Strategy. It is believed that momentum will increase as we work towards the vision."

The strategy contains a bonanza of bright ideas and initiatives, some of which our local government has discussed in the past (see brief history in notes below) but not enacted comprehensively to date. I'll list them partially here from the 30+ action points you can read in full on pp. 8-16 of the Strategy: 

i) strategy for Sooke's 52 hectares of "under-utilized" (Sooke Economic Analysis, 2019) industrial & commercial land
ii) support existing business and organizations to grow, thrive, create jobs; 
iii) inventory of existing office/commercial space;
iv) liaison with developers of new commercial/office projects;  
v) marketing strategy, trade-show presence and community development branding;
vi) mentoring program for business start-ups;
vii) review of potential District incentive programs;
viii) job training/retraining programs with an LCR/green-business trades focus;  
ix) develop a green business hub/incubator in collaboration with WorkLink;  
x) secure six-figure annual destination marketing funding through the Municipal and Regional Destination Tax program; 
xi) attract more tourists through edu-tourism, eco-tourism, agri-tourism, and arts, sports and marine tourism; 
xii) explore Sooke harbour pilot project with Canada Border Services Agency;  
xiii) attract a major arts, culture, and/or recreation-oriented land use to Sooke; 
xiv) pursue a world-class event to be held annually in spirit of the former Sooke triathalon;
xv) strategies for consistent special event production in Sooke.

That's a significant, exciting set of responsibilities for the CED Officer working in collaboration with District staff, the Chamber of Commerce, the South Island Prosperity Project, the T'Sou-ke Nation, WorkLink and other provincial government agencies, future District committees, independent business owners, our major incoming mixed-use developers and a potential third-party Sooke CED organization (perhaps modelled after the Nanaimo Prosperity Corporation following a City of Nanaimo presentation to Sooke's CED Committee early this year.)    

As for the environmental/climate-action component in all the above, it's stated at the outset in the CED Strategy's Goal 1.1 (pg. 5) and aligns with the District's 2021 commitment to Low Carbon Resilience in operations and community planning:  "To attract new businesses and organizations that are Low Carbon Resilient. Definition of LCR businesses are those that, to the greatest extent possible: contribute to a circular economy; protect natural resources and carbon sinks; provide protection from climate risks; lower GHG emissions; and identify social, environmental and economic co-benefits (pg. 7) as part of the business vision." 

The CEDO, then, is a part-time, quasi-Climate Action Coordinator in him/her/their-selves ... as are all District staff for that matter given a whole-of-organization commitment to Low Carbon Resilience. Back to that job description: "The CEDO is also responsible for the implementation of the Community Economic Development Strategy and supporting the Climate Action Plan for the District of Sooke which will, among other initiatives, stimulate business activity and investment in the District while promoting climate action mitigation and adaptation strategies." 

District staff were instrumental in creating the 25 short-term priorities in the Climate Action Plan. Various departments will take on their respective tasks identified in the plan should the next council approve related budget (money and staff time) expenditures during the 2023-2028 Five-Year Financial Plan deliberations following the election.

Even so, while enthusiastically endorsing the climate plan, the Climate Action Committee also formally called for the hiring of a full-time successor to Ms. Carolsfeld in a last-act motion sent to council on July 25 (see pg. 83/84). As with motions arising from the District's other committees this summer, council opted to forward the request to the new council for consideration in creating their own four-year Strategic Plan. District hires have been funded in recent years through the revenue from new tax portfolios. And with the bonus of the provincial climate action contribution, both positions are entirely feasible and required. (IMHO, of course and always.) 

Fingers tightly crossed, then, that an exceptional CED Officer is in Sooke's near future. It's an utterly timely need to ensure that Sooke's new town centre commercial space is made first-look available (and affordable) to local businesses, home-based enterprises ready for expansion and independent gap-businesses from elsewhere who might want to open a Sooke outlet ... all before the national chains are entertained. (Does Sooke need a London Drugs or Starbucks given their ubiquity elsewhere? The west-shore is surely globalized enough as it is, so let's keep our streetfronts as local and independent as possible.) 

The new CEDO could also work with new-build property managers on other ideas:  an art gallery, distance education hub, commercial kitchen and/or a co-working enterprise -- both private Club Kwench-style and also a Province of BC telework centre like the extremely well-used space in Langford to serve the approx. 250 provincial employees residing in the Sooke region. [Council this summer approved an advocacy pitch based on one of Carolsfeld's reports (see pp. 7-10). The letter I wrote for the Mayor's signature to the Ministry of Citizen Services has generated a response high-fiving us for our GHG-reduction ambitions and non-committally stating that Sooke will be considered as the province accommodates new patterns of split-week and telework employment.]

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Related excerpts from my January, 2021 overview of the District's three then newly-formed committees ... 

The CED Committee is the latest iteration of a long-standing focus in Sooke and every community seeking to create local jobs and a healthy business sector. The new-born municipality's first "Economic Development Strategy Session" was held in September, 2002; it's fascinating to look back to the minutes (pp. 11-15) and see how many wish-list items have been ticked and how much of what is at issue today was recognized back then (apart from today's top challenge ~ managing the kind of population growth likely unimagined by folks back then.)  

The Economic Development Commission was launched by Mayor Evans in 2006 in collaboration with what was then known as the Sooke Harbour Chamber of Commerce. Its positive thinking in the '00s is captured in the District's 2008 annual report (pg. 18 and 36), the EDC's "Age-Friendly Dialogue" report, the "Advantage Sooke" website, the Sooke Sustainable Development Strategy (pp. 27-30, "Strategy #7 -- Promote jobs and businesses that contribute to a locally-oriented, green economy") and the 2010 Official Community Plan (section 4.4, pp. 32-37; developing Sooke's "Wild By Nature" tourism economy is cited as a primary OCP goal on an extensive action list topped by ongoing support for the EDC, the hiring of an economic development officer and the creation of a "District of Sooke Economic Development Corporation" in the mould of successful models elsewhere.)  

The EDC's six-year run ended when Mayor Milne replaced it with the Advisory Panel on Economic Development for 2013-14. The Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce continued to do its vital work and is again working hard and strategically to navigate the business sector through this unfortunate year and beyond.  Now council, through our latest Strategic Plan review, has asked that a new committee be launched to address "community economic development" -- distinct from textbook "economic development" and defined by the Canadian CED Network as strategic actions that "strengthen communities by creating economic opportunities to enhance social and environmental conditions." 

Simon Fraser University's Five Principles of Community Economic Development sum it up neatly. The holistic goal is to "create inclusive local economies, develop nourishing livelihood opportunities, build on local resources and capacities, increase community control and ownership, enhance the health of the environment, and encourage community resilience."  Pretty much consistent with Sooke's earlier thinking documented above and all very much in the spirit of the sustainable triple bottom line. (YouTube summary + this explanation by economist John Elkington on his thinking in coining that term).  

The possibilities and best-practice actions going forward were documented in the Sooke Economic Analysis (see pp. 13-69). 
 
Much credit for this new phase of ED activity goes to the revitalized Sooke Region Chamber of Commerce under new president Karen Mason and executive director Britt Santowski. The Chamber came to council last year reapplying for community service agreement funds that it surrendered in 2016 when it became clear it was being asked by the District to effectively take on the work of a Economic Develoment Officer for a slim $28k per year. This May we okayed $16k as a one-year starter with the promise to consider stable funding in the 2021 budget. 

A council and senior staff workshop in January with Cheryl McLay of the Province of BC's Regional Economic Operations Branch was an intro to a wealth of economic development tools and support available to small communities like our own via the province, the BC Economic Development Association and other avenues. Not long after this Sooke joined the South Island Prosperity Project in support of its efforts to keep the South Island competitive in attracting  businesses and investment dollars to the region.  

CAO McInnis followed up the council workshop by creating an informal working group that has met twice-monthly since the spring. It features McLay, Mayor Tait and representatives from six key local organizations: the Chamber's Mason, Sooke Region Museum and Visitors Centre's Lee Boyko, Sooke Region Communities Health Network's Don Brown, Sooke Region Tourism Association's Ryan Chamberland, WorkLink Employment Society's Peter Doukakis,  and the Economic Development Group's Doug Wittich. 
 
The Terms of Reference ensure all of the above organizations will have seats at the table along with a councillor and two public members. Their first critical ask is that the District find the dollars in the 2021 budget, live up to earlier intentions dating back at least 15 years and hire a Community Development Officer next year. (For its part, the Climate Action Committee understandably would like to see dollars dedicated to an environment/climate specialist to help process a hefty workload passed down to it by council. Needs/wants/wishes, what is a community to do without blowing residential taxes -- currently 85% of the total annual haul -- through the roof? Cultivate more business tax portfolios, that's what.) 
 
Here are links to community economic development overviews for Revelstoke, Vancouver, Bowen Island, Clearwater, the Thompson Okanagan region and Williams Lake, to cite a handful of provincial examples. Still more to learn on the subject from Cowichan Valley Regional District, Community Futures Cowichan, the City of Langford and a place to which we're often compared given our shared proximity to a major city, Squamish.  

The province's Investment Readiness Assessment Checklist for communities is also likely to be given a workout by the new committee. Requirement one: "A designated point person for economic development," hence the call for a full-time CED Officer. An individual who could liaise with local businesses, woo new investors, execute committee and council recommendations, write grant proposals and cheerlead for #Sooke as we build out our town centre would surely be public money well spent. (Always with the proviso that we must stay fiscally conservative during an unpredictable pandemic.) 

Time to revisit my Dec. 2018 "X Homes + Y People + Z cars =?"  Sooke construction overview and catch up on the rush of activity since then. I called for a "pause" in my 2018 election campaign until new master plans were in place to guide community growth, and the good news is that the District sports a refreshed set of them (almost, pending eventual approval of the new OCP). All affirm and renew Sooke's long-time focus on smart-growth density, job creation, community development and appropriately denser housing in the town centre while protecting our rural lands and character. I have voted these last four unexpected, roller-COVIDcoaster years against sprawl and up-zoning while learning and necessarily accepting that development legally can proceed when zoning is in place. 

The 2008/09 recession that slowed anticipated local growth is long past. Sooke has lost its best-kept secret status to the regret of many of us who value small-town charm and pace, and who continually need to remind ourselves that we're still living remarkably wild by nature in this still unspoilt region. Have a look out the front doors of the new Sooke library (or from the sports court box, for that matter) and convince me I'm wrong. As much as it may feel like it on days we don't stray far from #14, we are not becoming an extension of Langford even with the growth in traffic between here and there.

(And that's right, I'm not a commuter but I know the feeling as recently as last week during a late-afternoon crawl home starting at Daniel's Market. Alleviating traffic congestion is a primary goal in three key #Sooke documents -- the provisional OCP, the newly minted Climate Action Plan and the 2021 Community Economic Development Strategy and Action Plan. Implementation of BC Transit's Sooke Local Area Transit Plan and the south island RapidBus system will also help in growing our region-leading 12% per capita ridership.) 

For the most part, the incoming, mostly mixed-use commercial and residential projects listed below have the required zoning and will -- pending council approval of their various commitments to meet Sooke's Development Permit, Town Centre Design Handbook and Downtown Design guidelines -- be breaking ground in the heart of the "complete and compact community" that the CRD's Regional Growth Strategy and our own Official Community Plan (both current and pending) demands. Our Transportation Master Plan also confirms "high growth potential" for the Town Centre with "moderate growth" for the Sewer Specified Area (which could expand with Kaltasin and Whiffin Spit neighbourhood assent should sewer expansion grant funding be available as we'll discover this time next year.) 

All this developer interest and activity is a product, I'll hazard to say, of a number of factors here where we've just reached city-status with our 15,000+ population:

* The clear vision and practical action plans for the short and mid-term future contained in our updated master plans, including the aforementioned multi-modal Transportation plan with its focus on the Throup-Grant Rd. connector route/bypass. 

* The continued evolution of an attractive, functional town centre with smartly updated arterial corridors (Otter Point Rd., Church Rd., Charters to follow), bike lanes, new sidewalks (as far as Ed Macgregor Park on the West Coast Rd. with continuation on to Whiffin Spit Rd. next) and a street-front business community marked more by unique independents than identikit national chains.  

* The evolution of the town centre Lot A (with its landmark new library and the promise/potential of a public plaza, the age-friendly Gathering Place intergenerational centre, and expanded health care facilities as the five-acre property's design and flow is integrated with Evergreen Mall.)  

* New all-ages community amenities like the splendid fitness room at SEAPARC, the Ponds Corridor dog park and the multi-sport court box in Sunriver with more (such as the grant-dependent DeMamiel Creek/Little River pedestrian route and updated skate park) to follow; 

* A full range of K-12 schools (ready for updating, it's true, with the promised Sunriver Elementary slated to break ground in 2027 according to a facilities plan ever subject to change and major decisions to be made by School District #62 about the future of Sooke Elementary, the oldest in BC, occupying a large development-perfect ocean view property and one of four Sooke schools contributing to traffic slow-downs along our provincial highway); 

* The provincially/federally funded 50% expansion of our wastewater treatment plant to increase capacity and accommodate incoming growth; 

* Above all, the utterly spectacular harbour town setting in which folks from all parts of the country aspire to live, here where the still-standing rain forest meets the mostly pollution-free sea (which still isn't clean enough for renewed shellfish harvesting, it must be said, and is one central reason why sewers east to Kaltasin are needed.) 

​Today's update is inspired a) by my need to get my thoughts in order for the upcoming election; and b) by a recent Citified summary headlined "Sooke's village core earmarked for growth with 995 units of rentals and ownership opportunities underway."  That number is aligned with the District's own calculation last year that 1200 new residential addresses are in the works for the rest of the 2020s. (Sooke grew by 16% to 15k residents in the five years since the last census, and we're told by the CRD statisticians and the authors of the draft OCP that we can anticipate annual 2.9% growth through 2050 and a population by then of 25k. To meet that growth, the OCP tells us we need 1,813 more units by 2030, another 1,567 by 2040 and a further 1,658 by 2050.

[To repeat, broken-record fashion, my own opinion: We need to question and challenge these projections given the reality of our increasingly congested two-lane highway, Sooke's overall carrying capacity as a population centre and our OCP-certified desire to remain "a small town with a big heart." Growth was intended to flow along Van isle's eastern seaboard, not out our way, and we can simply only accommodate so much.]

This influx of new residents along with the rest of us will also be served by many thousands of square feet (note to self: add it up) of proposed new retail and office space, a critical need for Sooke's community economic development aspirations. (PS Applications now welcome for the District's Community Ec Dev Officer position, deadline Sept.5. This renewed position is utterly timely and critical so as to work along with the Chamber of Commerce with property managers to ensure they make space available first to local businesses, home-based enterprises ready for expansion, independents from elsewhere who might want to open a Sooke outlet, arts collectives, hub co-working enterprises (Province of BC and private operators like Club Kwench), etc. All before the national chains get a look-in (do we really need a London Drugs, Canadian Tire, Starbucks, etc. when they're so readily at hand in Langford? My wish: NO, enough with globalization, thank you.) 

Our town's Housing Needs Report (2019) calls for additional and varied housing right across the spectrum.  The major  issues it identified: 1. An extremely tight rental market; 2. Significant growth anticipated in senior households (and the need for downsizing options for locals); 3. The need for social housing, especially for affordable housing; and 4. A shift towards smaller-sized households and building footprints due to the sky high cost of available housing (still up 3% compared to this time last year.)  

Stone Ridge, Viewpointe Estates, SookePoint and the next phase of Erinan Estates will certainly address the million-plus single-family end of that Sooke spectrum. At the other extreme, the Hope Centre will have 33 transitional housing units when renovations are complete this fall and the new BC Housing complexes at Charters and Drennan will offer 49 shelter-rate apartments. The latter will also feature nearly 200 below-market rental units. (The Sooke Homelessness Coalition plans to advocate for emergency solutions such as a carefully regulated pilot project that would match RV dwellers, whose numbers are rising, with homeowners who can offer a stable parking pad in return for a modest monthly fee.) 

In between we have Sooke median-priced single-family homes (I live in one such rancher) and other varied stock, but not so much until recently of the "missing-middle" options -- apartments, condominiums, three-and-fourplexes, town homes and genuinely affordable, smaller-footprint (500-1500 sq ft) single-family homes of the kind championed by Small Housing BC. The new wave of construction is certainly delivering a relative wealth of purpose-built rentals to the town centre. "Gentle densification" encouraging various housing types to flourish outside the TC is encouraged in the draft OCP. And secondary suites remain possible throughout the District,  both as mortgage-helpers and essential housing (hopefully mostly for full-time residents, not tourists, but that's okay too if the balance is right.) 

As for density, there's been a fair bit of confusion during OCP deliberations over the draft's call for a maximum density of 70 units per hectare in the Community Residential (CR) designation (i.e., the Sewer Specified Area west of the Sooke River). Some have wrongly claimed that this means every CR landowner would be free to dramatically densify their single-family lots and we'd see cluster housing on what are now single-family streets. 

Not so, however.  As District staff and the OCP consultants have stated repeatedly, "maximum densities within each designation will be informed by the policy direction of the OCP and the site-specific zoning provided in the Zoning Bylaw." (to quote the document itself, pg. 56). This same site-specific rule also applies to the proposed Town Centre Core, Town Centre Transitional and Town Centre Waterfront designations where density is welcome. (Up to a point; the 2009 Town Centre Plan envisions net growth in the TC of 1400 by 2050.) 

A new Zoning Bylaw is required following the adoption of any new OCP, and our first-read community plan currently allows six-storey buildings north of Sooke Rd. in the TC and only along Brownsey south of it.  These too will be site specific in the new zoning bylaw. (Interestingly, the current zoning bylaw's High-Density Multi-Family RM-4 category allows a maximum of 90 units per hectare. Ayre Manor and West Wind Harbour are the only spots so designated. the CD7 zoning for Mariner's Village allows 50 units per hectare maximum.) 

Turning to the major projects identified in the Citified round-up and some others of significant note: 

* BC Housing affordable rental projects at Charters (75 units total) and Drennan (170) are moving along nicely as is plainly evident from a drive-by. (Full details and site plans in the Dec. 14, 2019 council agenda.) The modular complex at Charters across from Art Morris Park will reportedly open later this year following an extended delay necessitated by the discovery of a northwest coastal shell midden missed when the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development's Archeological Branch signed off on the project. Meanwhile, the north and south BC Housing apartment blocks at Drennan are expected to be complete a year from now. In total, these Regional Housing First Program projects will offer 195 units of varying sizes for renters with low and moderate incomes along with 49 apartments available at the Income Assistance Rate Table Shelter Maximum (aka shelter rate.) 

* John Phillips Memorial Park retail/residential mixed-use buildings on the east side of Otter Point Rd. via the Victoria contractor GT Mann (see pg. 7 - 121 in the April 12, 2021 council agenda). This 0.87 hectare (2.15 acre) Neighbourhood Commercial (C1)-zoned site will feature 13k sq. ft of ground floor office/commercial space plus two upper floors comprising 77 market-rate rentals with park views. As you'll read in Corvidae's environmental assessment, all due care is being taken to integrate the project into the park, save existing trees not on the site footprint, plant new ones, manage stormwater and protect Nott Pond. (PS This property was never parkland, as some have assumed, and it is not the proposed Sooke Lions-initiated community space, which is slated -- if at all pending further community engagement -- for the slope rising to Wadams Way; the town hall information session on the subject is set for Sept. 25.) 

* Harbourview, aka Mariner's Village Phase Two (SeaCliff Group Properties, Vancouver.) We on the current council have yet to see any documentation and, as frustratingly ever with most such projects, won't until the Development Permit application reaches us 96 or so hours before it's addressed at a formal meeting (if at all pre-election).  SeaCliff's plans are based, however, on the CD7 site-specific zoning secured by former MV owner Mike Barrie and included with the Sooke Zoning Bylaw (2013; see pp. 152-159). As the Times Colonist reported, first-stage construction will involve i) Two structures along Sooke Road -- a one-storey commercial building and a three-storey mixed-use building (commercial space plus townhomes); and ii) a six-storey apartment building further down the slope flanked by townhouses; according to the zoning, this could reach eight storeys if all the amenities (listed in part in the next paragraph) that are cited in the zone's Appendix C are met in full.. 
       Site development here will see extensions of Goodmere and Lanark Roads (as per the map on pg. 157 of the zoning bylaw, see the micro-screenshot below). The developer will also create an east-bound left turn lane off Sooke Road into Sooke Elementary.  Less appealing, of course, is the loss of what I imagine will be large portions of the view for which the project's now named. Construction will also eliminate the whole-of-site park potential on this remarkable piece of land. The majestic oak tree will remain as the gateway to a future waterfront trail if the CD7 zoning is followed to the letter and provided construction does not interfere with what must be a complex root system. Protected oceanfront parkland will include the cormorant-nesting trees, one of Sooke's most magical sights. And provision is also made for a future boardwalk extension to one day link with the Rotary Pier.  I'm most interested to see how creatively the design can retain the harbour views (glimpses?) from Sooke Rd. and whether the Sooke Elementary students who perch and play on their playground circle of rocks will still be able to see the ocean. (SeaCliff is also building Westview and the Tesla Centre in Langford, and Royal Beach in Colwood.)  

* Westside of Brownsey Blvd. (WestUrban Developments, Campbell River with a south island HQ in Langford.)  With ambitions to be one of Western Canada's leading developers and numerous projects on the go, WestUrban has submitted a Development Permit application (see June 13, 2022 council agenda, pp. 5-71) for two six-storey buildings with 904 sq. meters of ground-floor commercial and 161 rental units. It was received by council on June 13 this year and sent back for further tinkering by staff and the applicant given that of the 52 Development Permit guidelines it triggers, 12 were entirely unmet and another 21 were only partially fulfilled. The appilcant, as they note, is investing $80m in developing this vital, long-dormant stretch of the town centre and yet we've only one chance to get this right. (Quick calculation: 161 apartments at an average of $1500/month = $2.9m per year in rental revenue not counting commercial space.)  Personally, I'd like draft OCP short-term action #2 -- revise the Town Centre Plan -- to be completed before the next council has to make this call, but that's not necessarily how a restless free-market works when zoning is in place. 
        The challenge is to better align the design of these two six-storey (with underground parking) mixed-use buildings with the vision embedded in Sooke's current Town Centre Plan. It calls for a pedestrian-friendly, shop-and-cafe laced corridor with wide landscaped sidewalks leading down to the water.  ("Provisionally named Waterview Street, this shop-lined ‘high street’ connects to the waterfront. Here, marine-commercial uses and a public pier complete this new ‘spine’ for the Town Centre. Lower density development on the streets that cross Waterview Street will be primarily townhouses with vehicle access from lanes at the rear of the lots." - pg. 6).  Whether the terrain and relatively narrow building footprints on Brownsey realistically allows this vision remains to be seen. 
       As I wrote on FB early this summer: "This is a huge, character-shaping moment in the evolution of our town centre. The variances the applicant is seeking appear to be workable, but District staff also have issues with street-front form and character of the two proposed buildings. 'The main issue,' stated the staff report, 'is that the development does not establish a pedestrian-oriented streetscape [aka "Village High Street"] because of the following: Significant retaining walls, blank walls, lack of a consistent line of building fronts that clearly define the space of a street, surface parking on a highly visible, prominent corner, and limited at-grade access to each of the buiding sites ... Improvement is needed to create a more engaging and vibrant pedestrian streetscape as supported by Development Permit objectives.' (These DP objectives are listed in full in the report and measured against the proposal. Many are met, some are not. And this is why getting it right with the new DP guidelines in our draft OCP is so critically important for moments exactly like this.)" 

* Eastside of Brownsey Blvd. (6643 Sooke Road.) The Edmonton-based Postmark Group pulled out of its exciting plans for a mass-timber commercial/office/residential proposal. Postmark's website is down and its Facebook page reveals no clues. The property was sold again late last year for $1.88m. 

* Wadams Farm (Aragon Development, Vancouver.)  All details and maps can be found in the July 12, 2021 council agenda (pg. 9-134). To quote myself again (Nov. 4, 2020): "The zoning went through in 2016 at the request of the owner and it is now in the respected, reputable hand of the new-urbanist Aragon Development. Its approved plan for a neighbourhood of 132 homes (78 strata townhouse units and 54 fee simple single-family lots) aligns precisely with the OCP's Sooke Smart Growth ambitions at the northern edge of the town centre." 

* The Gathering Place (Sooke Region Communities Health Network). A team led by Christine Bossi and Marlene Barry are creatively campaigning to raise $2 million for the intergenerational community centre (click here to donate) adjacent to the library. The 70 proposed seniors' affordable rental units on three floors above it are contingent on a successful BC Housing grant application when the next funding window opens in fall 2023. (More on the project's long genesis here.)

* Nott Brook (Aragon Development). No word on when a Development Permit proposal will be brought forward for the decade-delayed 127-residence Nott Brook subdivision blanketing the western side of the former golf course, likely not until Wadams Farm is well on the way to completion. 

Major projects yet to be rezoned or brought forward for Development Permits and which future councils have the ability to confirm, negotiate with and/or deny: 

* West Ridge Trails Phase 3. The third and final phase of this development by Richmond-based (but Sooke-rooted) Farrell Estates (McPhail Group of Companies) will stretch on now forested land from Blanchard as far as Sellars Dr. behind the project's first two phases on the east slope of Broom Hill. Those initial phases (70 single family homes) are now sold-out.  The proposed Phase 3 involves a 20-year (market conditional) plan to build 425 homes on 100 second-growth acres (i.e., 340 small, medium and large single family residential lots and 85 multi-family units.) A commercial area (4k m2) is to feature offices, cafe/restaurant and corner store.  See maps, trail networks, environmental report and rationales in the OCP Advisory Committee agenda of Nov. 17, 2021. (The draft OCP initially labelled this land rural rather than the current Community Residential since it was judged, by planning staff and consultants, to be far enough from the town centre to qualify as sprawl. Cue pushback from the owners on the grounds that District staff had, in late 2017, effectively greenlit phase 3 and okayed construction of a connector road. Council returned the CR designation during first reading of the OCP bylaw this spring. I voted against this on the grounds that I'd have liked further discussion atop what was a relatively, by my windy standards, brief conversation on the subject. I did so while knowing that phase three will only go ahead should a future council rezone the land and approval sewer inclusion. It's a sensitively and smartly designed project but i wonder if the appilcant can up their game and create a bona fide climate-smart, Net Zero neighbourhood of Sooke's aspirational dreams. And/or demonstrate the creative possibilities for affordable 21st century housing as per the Small Housing BC toolkit. What an opportunity for Sooke builders to expand their already solid skill sets into a more diverse array of housing types.)  

* Country Grocer project (Large family/Mid America Venture Capital Corp, Victoria.) Rezoning required on a proposal that will cover 156k sq. ft. on nine greenfield acres behind and west of the Hope Centre. A key matter here is traffic flow, the main entrance (which could be a roundabout rather than signal light) and whether the Gatewood right-of-way will become an arterial route connecting Grant Rd. West to the West Coast Road (i.e., who will pay for it.) Times Colonist article (June 20, 2021) + my Facebook post of May 9, 2021:

"Further details I can share re: the news that the owners of the nine-acre field immediately west and north of the Hope Centre off the West Coast Road will be seeking approvals to transform it into a mixed-use complex (aka shopping mall with office space and possibly residential). The upsides of additional commercial space in the heart of town are stated well by the Chamber's Britt Santowski in today's Times Colonist. 

Definite regrets about the potential loss of this green space -- the source of many buckets of blackberries over the years for dedicated pickers, a wild space for deer and such a lovely green vista for those of us who practiced at Sooke Yoga. Yet it's prime for density and development given it location on the western-most edge of the Town Centre within the walkability zone defined by OCP planners past and present.

The property is owned by the Large family, operators of the Country Grocer chain on Vancouver Island. They've decided the time is right to develop a parcel they've held since the early 1980s and will be seeking the necessary Town Centre Mixed Use zoning to proceed.

The 20 or so of us attending the Zoom public open house learned from coordinator Trevor Dickie that the design will be built out over 10 to 15 years in response to market demand. The anchor tenant and initial build will be a 35k sq. foot grocery store. A second building of equal size will rise alongside it. Additional blocks of smaller spaces are for stores and offices.  No residential units are currently in the plans, though he says all is possible prior to submission of a Development Permit application next year. (This DP will reflect and be responsive to directions established in the new OCP, he added, thus likely making a condo component essential over the project's time frame given the calls for town-centre density in mixed-used residential/commercial developments. Certainly a logical addition given the postcard views from any future third-or-fourth floor residences.)

Main vehicle access will be via the property immediately west of the Hope Centre, with traffic controlled by a signal light or roundabout, he said. A secondary access will be along the north half of Gatewood off Eustace Road. The half of Gatewood accessible from the West Coast Road will remain a walking trail. "First step will be the grocery, a bank and other uses," said Dickie. The second big box might be split into three retail spaces or used by a single operator. "A Walmart prototype would not fit on this site," he said definitively to the relief of a number of us on the call. "A whole lot of work is to be done before we have the details in place."

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Here's the update  on my late 2018 summary of works in varying states of progress. The websites for Stone Ridge Estates and Heron View, to cite two, have been taken down likely because they are complete (or nearly so in the former's case). The list is incomplete and I'll revise it with help from the District's Development Tracker.  

Town Centre
*  133 Aragon Properties homes and townhouses at the northwest corner of Wadams Way & Church
*   70 SRCHN/BC Housing units of affordable seniors’ rentals above the Gathering Place on Lot A (grant conditional)
*  123 Aragon single family homes and duplexes at Nott Brook (east-side Otter Point Rd. across from John Phillips) 
*   77 GT Mann apartments in the two mixed-use buildings at the former Mulligans 
*   26 Agius Builders townhouses in Meadowlands at north end of Kennedy Rd. North (opposed on grounds that we needed more info on how road network in this area will be improved through the then-incomplete Transportation Master Plan)
 *   7 multi-family two-bedroom cluster units at 2063 Townsend Rd. (see May 9, 2022 agenda, pp. 5-40) 
*  16 single-family lots 6829 Grant Road/Stone Hearth Lane (R3 zone)
*  x  final homes to to build-out at Woodlands Creek

Completed:  
*  42 Knox Vision Society affordable rental units at southwest corner of Wadams Way & Church 
*  31 condominium units at West Wind Harbour Cohousing on the waterfront west of Mariner’s Village
*  20 town homes at West Village, Eustace Road west of Gatewood 
*  10 townhouses on Ayre Road 
*  22 Agius Builders townhouses at Grasslands (2119 Charters Rd.) 
*  40+ more single-family homes at Woodlands Creek 

Otter Point Rd. North
*  29 single-family homes to be built in phase 2 of West Ridge Trails (lots have sold) 
*  425 single-family homes in phase 3 of West Ridge Trails (zoning dependent) 
*  16 single-family homes at 2445 Otter Point Rd. (opposed upzoning that would have increased the number to 27)   
*  5 single-family lots at 2614 Otter Point Rd. 
*  7 single-family Rowils Estates lots at 2489 Otter Point Rd. (April 23, 2019 council meeting; opposed) 

Completed: 
*  41 single-family homes in phase 1 of West Ridge Trails (Burr/Blanchard) 

Sooke ~ East of Charters Rd.  
* 75 BC Housing -- 15 units at shelter rate, 24 affordable units and 36 near-market units at Charters/Throup
* 169 BC Housing -- 34 units at shelter rate, 52 affordable units and 83 near-market units at northwest corner of Drennan/Sooke Rd. 
* ? DP filed at 6519 Throup Rd. 
* 28 townhomes at 2104 Charters Rd. 
* 140 more single-family homes to build-out of Sunriver (its website references “a community of 715 homes”; zoning amendment currently on hold.)
* New commercial building at 2330 Sunriver Way 

Completed: 
* 50+ more patio-style homes to build-out at RiversEdge Village/Sunriver

Sooke ~ West of Gatewood 
* 109 single-family homes planned for the remaining phases of Viewpointe Estates
* 24 (?) town homes in the construction zone between Brailsford and Melrick Place
* ? single-family homes to build-out in future phases of Erinan Estates
* 11.5 cluster homes at 1923 Maple Ave. S. (potential; 2 homes approved on Nov. 26, 2018) 
*  4 fee-simple lots at 1939 Maple Ave. S. (approved May 13, 2019) 
 
Completed: 
* 34 single-family homes in phase three of Stone Ridge Estates
* 22 single-family homes in phase four of Stone Ridge Estate
* 27 condos at The Residences on Sooke Harbour, 1820 Maple Ave. South 
* 10 single-family homes in phase seven of Heron View
* 14-lot potential at 7057 West Coast Road 
* 6 single-family homes on southside of 6000-block West Coast Road across from Sooke Harbour Resort


Sasseenos
* 5 lot subdivision at 5627 Woodlands Rd. 
* 3 home subdivision at 5686 Woodlands Rd. 

Completed:
* 5 strata homes at 5651 Woodlands Rd. (upzoned on Nov. 26, 2018 from previously permitted one home; opposed) 

SookePoint
* 127 building sites at SookePoint in the former East Sooke. The Whiffin Spit-facing "ocean cottages" at Possession Point (click for June, 2022 site plan) are now fully sold. 

Three days after its opening, I had my first encounter this afternoon with half of the future four-lane stretch at 17 Mile after reading about its pros and cons on social media. A flagger stopped us in the eastbound lane for two minutes to allow heavy machinery to do its thing. And a car turning left onto the Gillespie connection held us up for approx. 15 seconds until a westbound driver paused and waved it through. Then on to my chores in Langford before joining the rush home. 

The project is on track for completion later this year. Here's a Ministry of Transportation visualization of the road network near 17 Mile House. It's from the presentation materials released at the 2019 Open House at EMCS. Flip towards the back of this PDF to see visualizations of other impacted intersections. ​

​Full details on the Ministry's Highway 14 page.  MOTI just yesterday announced that it has wrapped its West Coast Road improvement work west of Gordon's Beach. It's the latest box tick for an ongoing series of regional road improvements neatly captured in this MOTI Flickr photo file.  

PS If you're curious about the Wilson family's future plans for its commercially zoned property surrounding the 17 Mile House, check the public hearing materials in the council agenda of Feb. 8, 2021. The 17 Mile Liquor Store, the Adrena Line Zipline office and a grocery store (possibly Sooke's first Red Barn) are to be located in what's described as a "small, rural-style commercial complex" south of the pond in the fuzzy patch of the above illustration. (One of the best points I've seen raised in the last few days is that a guardrail is needed to prevent cars from sliding off the road into said pond on icy winter days or during speeding/distracted-driver mishaps.) A BC Transit Park-and-Ride is also part of the mix here. 

Looking back to related content from this non-commuter's Facebook page:

June 26, 2021: "To repeat a theme stated time and again in these parts, most recently during this year's OCP public engagement: The single biggest reality check for Sooke's evolution is the fact that we've serviced by just the one, increasingly congested, two-lane highway.

How busy is our main road? Personal and anecdotal evidence is that we now face local rush hours quite unlike what Carolyn and I experienced on arrival here in 2003. And regional commuters must now deal with the "Sooke Slink" (to use Shannon Moneo's rather brilliant and catchy phrase) from Sassenos Elementary (on good days, as she says) and Cooper's Cove (on bad days).

So this bright morning i did some exploration ...

i) Sooke's Transportation Master Plan (2020) states that "Highway 14 experiences traffic volumes up to 20,000 vehicles per day. Otter Point Road is the busiest Collector Road with volumes up to 9,500 per day." The projected Average Daily Traffic entering Sooke in 2038 will be 25,000 vehicles. See the map on page 41. This estimate seems low to me given the projected 22k residents by that year. 

ii) Present-day TMP data is derived from CRD traffic counts dating back to 2007. 

iii) MOTI also maintains sporadic but telling data, i.e., Sooke River Road numbers comparing 2012 and 2018.

The TMP is accommodating growth with an expanded "complete streets" network highlighted by the long-planned Throup/Grant Road bypass that will channel local traffic off Sooke Rd. It also calls for intersection improvements at #14 and Church (underway this summer), Otter Point and Phillips Roads. (full details in the Transportation Master Plan, pp. 38-51)

The current #14 expansion to four lanes in North Sooke will help the flow TBD (i.e., somewhat) while dramatically improving safety.  Obvious conclusion: Volume is growing in lockstep with Sooke's population increases and our 'carrying capacity' (or ideal population size) as a community that values free-flowing traffic and rates gridlock as one of our worst nightmares must be a prime consideration as we figure out Sooke's future." 

May 20, 2020: "The latest Hwy #14 (Neil Creek to Glinz Lake Rd.) project developments were posted online this morning along with details of the key revisions emerging from the latest round of public feedback: The addition of a secondary road linking Manzer to Gillespie that will allow area residents to conveniently access the highway in both directions; a  pedestrian underpass east of Glinz Lake Road to connect bus stops on either side of the road; and oversized culverts under the road that double as wildlife corridors.

The two-year (minimum) construction period is slated to begin later this year. Yes, inevitably, there will be inconvenience even though much of the new route does not follow the current one. MOTI promises that there will be no stoppages during peak travel times, and we will all be kept aware via ads, social media and electronic road signs of planned, non-peak delays caused by rock blasting and tree removal. (Cautions/hopes: Stuff happens ... patience is a virtue ... and telecommuting may well be a lasting upside from the COVID era and a partial solution to growing traffic congestion.) 

In other news, MOTI will be installing new sidewalks on both sides of the West Coast Road from the Otter Point Rd. stop light west to Ed Macgregor Park in the months ahead. A crosswalk linking Gatewood Trail to the park is included (as was the wish of the kids and teachers at SOCLA (Sooke Options for Community Living Association) who routinely have troubles getting across the road to Ed Mac. 

May 16, 2020: "As a playful prelude to its major Highway #14 update announcement next week, MOTI has added this vintage 16mm clip to its "Road Trip Time Machine" archive.  Filming took place on May 11, 1966, a Wednesday. The town centre arrives at 2:48, ten seconds after the bridge crossing. Bonus: Slow moo-ving traffic on the approach to Jordan River (where the road ended back then) at the 6:00 mark. (That's right, the image chosen to preview the clip is the 17 Mile House Pub, the heart of the 2km/4-lane highway expansion over the next two years).

April 23, 2019: "Just back from the Premier's press conference outside the 17 Mile House Pub. He formally announced the four-laning of Hwy #14 from Connie to Glinz Lake Road. It's expected to be complete by the end of 2022, and "will make life better and safer for the people of Sooke," said Mr. Horgan.

The project will cost $65 million in federal and provincial funding ~ 80 percent of the cost of the McKenzie overpass and proof once more that a bona fide alternate route to Sooke is a short-and-mid-term fantasy given the $500 million (minimum) costs that would be involved. 

Five of the six property owners who will lose their homes have agreed to fair-market settlements with the Ministry of Transportation; negotiations continue with the other 22 affected property owners. Sooke Fire Chief Ken Mount is pleased with the new configuration and figures it improves emergency response services in the area even with a median along this stretch and the requirement for his team to navigate new u-turns in responding to local calls.

The Premier noted that almost all of the Hwy #14 Corridor Improvements promised in early 2018 are now complete -- Roche Cove bridge, Sombrio pullover and Sooke River Road stoplight included.

A stoplight is one of the options under consideration, this one just east of the 17 Mile to allow local and East Sooke traffic to merge into the stream. (Still another is promised for Charters Rd. to deal with the traffic generated by the new BC Housing affordable complex at Drennan.)  

A kinder surprise bonus slipped into today's announcement was that the shoulders along the West Coast Road will be widened and paved from Gordon's Beach as far west as Woodhaven Rd. on our side of French Beach Provincial Park -- a $20-million boon for intrepid cyclists travelling on what has long been rated a dangerous stretch of winding, super-picturesque roadway.

Best moment for me: A passing motorist shouted 'end the carbon tax' loudly enough for all of us milling around the future park'n'ride at 17 Mile to hear him. The Premier promptly fired back: "Yeah, the carbon tax. Buddy, that .1 cent per litre must be killing you." Very cool customer, our Mr. Premier."  


Also from from this blog ... 

- Spring 2019 at the time the Sooke River Road intersection was near completion 

​- November 2018, a long post with many links capturing earlier upgrades and plans. This was written back when I was finding the road much less safe (and rather less busy) than it is today.