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Rx for Ever-Improving Sooke Health Care

11/28/2022

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Updated March 16, 2023: Big news day!  
New Integrated Health Care Centre Coming to Sooke (BC Ministry of Health press release) 

Original post: Nov. 28, 2022
The Mayor will be in Ottawa for Federation of Canadian Municipalities meetings next week, and I've been enlisted to be her stand-in at a meeting involving the Island Health Board of Directors and representatives from the Sooke Region Communities Health Network, Sooke Shelter Society and West Coast Family Medical Clinic, among others. 

This will be followed by an Island Health public information session at the Community Hall from 2:30 to 4 PM on Thurs. Dec. 8. All are welcome as per this invitation: 

- Get an update on health and care delivery from Island Health President & CEO Kathy MacNeil and meet local Island Health leaders.
- Meet your local Medical Health Officer, Dr. Murray Fyfe, for an update on public health and wellness.
- Enjoy a presentation from local Island Health staff and community organizations.
- Have your questions answered. Questions can be submitted in advance by emailing asktheboard@islandhealth.ca or asked by those attending the in-person event.


At time likes this, of necessity, interest and the fact that I'm a relative know-nothing on the subject, I do what I always do: Pull all that's health-themed from my groaning file cabinets, pepper Google with inquiries and trust I'll reach some fake-it/make-it degree of armchair knowledge by the time I'm required to say a few words on behalf of the boss next week. 

The critical need identified long ago and very much front-and-centre now: A hybrid Community Health Centre/Urgent Primary Care Centre for the Sooke region. Outside of limited weekday hours, residents without their own local doctors and sometimes even so must trek a half-hour to the west shore when emergencies strike, braving unpredictable traffic in the process. CHC's continue to open in BC, including this clinic in Colwood. Ours would provide significantly expanded quarters for the West Coast Family Medical Clinic team of physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners now operating from its current Evergreen Mall location. They'd be joined by an additional cohort of health-care professionals who'd provide emergency services. 

The District has reserved the southeast quadrant of the nearby Lot A for this purpose (as per this paragraph from the 2019 Lot A Charette final report: "5-or-6-storey Health Centre with limited-size independent commercial retail units on the base and market housing units on the upper floors. This quadrant would include an underground parking component  ... conceived as a wood-frame building with a total floor area of approximately 7,000m2.")  That's the concept, which would be subject to variation based on real-world negotiations as the Sooke-owned property is integrated with the rest of Evergreen Mall (owned by Guelph-based Skyline Group of Companies.) 

Dedicated, planning and advocacy work by the District's 
Primary Health Care Services Working Group (PHCSWG) has kept this vision on the front-burner with Island Health and the Ministry, and there it remains. Meeting routinely, the group pairs the Mayor, local physicians, reps from the Sooke Region Communities Health Network (SRCHN) and other health professionals. 

The CHC/UPCC project on Lot A is being coordinated by SRCHN's Mary Dunn, Rick Robinson and Annemieke Holthuis  with Island Health, BC Association of Community Health Centres, West Coast Family Medical Clinic and West Communities Patient Care Network. West Coast Family Medical Clinic would be based in this space, which would be governed by SRCHN, a registered charity.  

No wonder our MLA John Horgan is reputed to have said: "There is no community better prepared for this than Sooke." May it be so! 


More on the proposed facility ... 

"SRCHN’s work with West Coast Family Medical Clinic, the District of Sooke, Island Health, the BC Association of Community Health Centres resulted in successful approval of our preliminary proposal for a Community Health Centre/Urgent Primary Care Centre in Sooke. We are currently working on the final proposal. The success of this proposal will allow us to work with a developer to build a new CHC/UPCC. The transitioning of West Coast Family Medical Clinic and addition of more staff will allow more access to urgent and ongoing medical care for Sooke residents." ~ SRCHN President Mary Dunn in the organization's 2022 Annual Report 

"In contrast to solo practitioner models, Community Health Centres offer high-quality primary care through a collaborative team approach. Social workers, family physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, dietitians, chiropodists, dental hygienists, therapists and other clinicians provide services in a team environment, based on patient needs. Community Health Centres integrate team-based primary care with health promotion programs, illness prevention programs, community health initiatives and social services focused on housing, food security and other inputs for health. This reduces silos and makes services more accessible. CHCs exemplify the World Health Organization’s definition and recommendations for “primary health care”. A SRCHN working group has been established to explore partnerships to advance the build of a much needed CHC in our semi-rural community." 

The BC Association of Community Health Centre's defines a CHC as "multi-sector health and healthcare organizations that deliver integrated, people-centred services and programs that reflect the needs and priorities of the diverse communities they serve. CHCs are created by not-for-profit organizations and co-operatives that are committed to providing comprehensive, accessible, affordable, and culturally-appropriate services through a collaborative team approach."

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The following is another hodge-podge of live links and direct quotations compiled for my education and reference. It's been a particularly useful and revealing exercise to chronicle the many, if by no means all, steps, forums, reports, motions and day-long workshops undertaken by so many in Sooke since incorporation who've organized and advocated for improved local health care.  

And yes, this subject doesn't vie with housing as the public's leading concern without good reason. This recent CBC town hall is as good a context-setter as any. Or read The Tyee's 2022 reporting here, here and here. 

Province of BC  
BC Ministry of Health 

"The Ministry of Health has overall responsibility for ensuring that quality, appropriate, cost effective and timely health services are available for all British Columbians."
- Medical Services Plan 
- Pharmacare 
- HealthLink BC (Call 811 for 24/7 health advice) 

- Primary and Community Care in BC: A Strategic Policy Framework (2015) 

BC Ministry of Mental Health & Addictions 
"The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions was created in 2017 to build a seamless, coordinated network of mental health and addictions services that works for everyone in B.C., as well as lead the response to the toxic drug crisis."
​
- A Pathway to Hope: 2018-28 ~ "This new strategy lays out government’s 10-year vision for mental health and substance use care, in which people living in B.C.’s mental health and well-being are supported from youth to adulthood and programs and services are available to tackle challenges early on."
- 2020 Update/Progress Report 
- Canadian Mental Health Association BC 2020-21 Annual Report 

BC Ministry of Children and Family Development
"The Ministry of Children and Family Development’s primary focus is to support all children and youth in British Columbia to live in safe, healthy and nurturing families and be strongly connected to their communities and culture. The ministry supports the well-being of children, youth and families in British Columbia by providing services that are accessible, inclusive, and culturally respectful."
- Annual Service Plan Report 2022 
- Mandate Letter 


Age-Friendly BC Program 
- Tools and Resources
- Becoming An Age-Friendly Community (2014, PDF) 
- Age-Friendly BC: Lessons Learned (2007-2010)

Federal Government
"The federal Minister of Health is responsible for maintaining and improving the health of Canadians. This is supported by the Health Portfolio which comprises Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency." 
​- Wikipedia 


First Nations Health Authority
"The FNHA is the health and wellness partner to over 200 diverse First Nations communities and citizens across BC.​ In 2013, the FNHA began a new era in BC First Nations health governance and health care delivery by taking responsibility for the programs and services formerly delivered by Health Canada."
- Governance model 
- 2020/21 Annual Report 


Vancouver Island: South Island 
Island Health 
"Through a network of hospitals, clinics, centres, health units, and residential facilities, Island Health provides health care to people on Vancouver Island, on the islands of the Georgia Strait, and in the mainland communities between Powell River and Rivers Inlet."  The authority covers four overall regions on Vancouver Island and the mainland. 

- Services offered and specialty clinic locations 
- Island Health President & CEO Kathy MacNeil
- Island Health Board of Directors
- Island Health ED, Clinical Service Delivery Sarah Crawford-Bohl 
- Medical Health Officer (Population & Public Health) Dr. Murray Fyfe 
- 
Medical staff website portal 
- Clinical Operations org chart (region including Sooke) 

- Local Health Area Profile: The Western Communities (2019 profile) are one of 14 health areas under Island Health's watch as defined by the Ministry of Health. Ours is comprised of Sooke, Langford, Colwood, Metchosin and Highlands. 

- Community Health Facts: Westshore and Sooke (2013) 

- Island Health 
Facebook page (notable at the moment for the chain of messages about temporary service disruptions at clinics in Port Hardy, Ladysmith and Chemainus due to a lack of physicians.)

Primary Care Network Steering Committee
(co-chaired by Sooke's Dr. Robin Saunders, who also co-chairs Partners for Better Health) 

South Island Division of Family Practice
- West shore and Sooke recruitment page 
- FETCH (For Everything That's Community Health) online listing of 2,200 resources in Greater Victoria (physicians, medical specialists, substance use/addiction, seniors, mental health counselling, low-income support, etc.) 


Sooke and Region 
(scan down for an overview of past initiatives and events leading to the present situation) 

T'Sou-ke Nation Health Care Centre 
- T'Sou-ke Nation Health
- New Community Care Centre Will Deliver Better Health Care to the T'Sou-ke Nation (Ministry of Municipal Affairs)
- T'Sou-ke Community Hall and Health Centre (Urban Arts Architecture) + TC article 

West Coast Family Medical Clinic, Sooke  
The busy Evergreen Mall base for medical care in Sooke. Created in the 2011 merger of Evergreen Medical Clinic and Harbour Medical Clinic. It is home to ten doctors, one nurse practitioner, a social worker, a dietitian and three registered nurses. Together they deliver family practice basics and collectively cover a diverse range of specialities: Maternity care, neurology, chronic pain management, oncology, cancer care, addictions, chronic pain, palliative care, chronic disease management and primary health care included. You'll find bios and individual skill sets/responsibilities for the 16-person-strong team here. 

- "Sooke's Creative Approach to Health Care" (Black Press, May 5, 2022)

* Vacancy notice: Nurse Practitioner (shared here since it explains the position) 
"West Coast Family Medical is looking for a Nurse Practitioner to fill a temporary one year term. In this sub-contracted position the nurse practitioner works within a Primary Care Network and, together with other members of an interprofessional care team, provides full scope team-based primary care for a panel of patients.

The nurse practitioner is responsible and accountable for the comprehensive assessment of patients/ clients/ residents including diagnosing diseases, disorders and conditions. The Nurse practitioner initiates treatment including health care management, therapeutic interventions and prescribes medications in accordance with the statutory and regulatory standards, limits and conditions, policy and guidelines. The Nurse Practitioner provides professional guidance to students and other health professionals and practices autonomously and interdependently within the context of an interdisciplinary health care team, making referrals to physicians and others as appropriate.

This position collaborates with patients/ clients/ residents and other members of the interdisciplinary team to identify and assess trends and patterns that have implications for patients/ clients/ residents, families and communities; develops and implement population and evidence based strategies to improve health and participates in policy-making and quality activities that influence health services and practices. The position participates in peer review and self-review to evaluate the outcome of services at the patient/client/resident, community and population level and to continuously improve quality and safety." 


LifeLabs Sooke (laboratory services)

West Coast Medical Imaging + Greater Victoria locations 

Ayre Manor Seniors' Housing 
Independent and assisted living, complex care and hospice beds. Opened in Jan. 2008. Owned by the Sooke Elderly Citizens' Housing Society (SECHS), a local non-profit charitable society formed in 1968 by the Old Age Pensioners Organization. Ayre Manor is supported by Island Health and the District of Sooke in association with SECHS. 
- Construction begins on Ayre Manor (March 2007)
- Expansion Plans for a new 56-bed wing (2012) 
- Expansion Plans Stalled (2017)
- Accreditation Canada acknowledgement (March 2021) 

Sooke Shelter Society 
Hope Centre Supportive Housing and Shelter (BC Housing website) 
- Who To Call infographic 
- BC Housing inquiry form and phone contact: "We welcome questions and feedback on this project through the Q&A tool on this page or to communityrelations@bchousing.org. We look forward to welcoming the community to tour the building once renovations are complete (1Q 2023) and encourage you to contact us about a tour." 

​Sooke Homelessness Coalition 
A satellite working group of the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness 

Sooke Family Resources Society 
  • Sooke Early Years Programs
  • West Shore Early Years Programs
  • Child Care Resource and Referral (CCRR)
  • Counselling
  • Youth Services
  • Family Services
  • Adults with Disabilities
  • Bridging the Digital Divide

- Island Health Sooke Health Unit at Sooke Family Resources Society 

Sooke Region Communities Health Network 
"Since 2003, the Sooke Co-operative Association of Service Agencies (CASA) and the grassroots Sooke Region Community Health Initiative (CHI) have worked together to benefit the Sooke Region from Port Renfrew to Beecher Bay.  In 2016, the two merged their resources and officially became Sooke Region Communities Health Network (SRCHN). It operates as a cooperative non-profit organization with charitable status, which allows it to manage its own grant funding and to act as an umbrella organization for other voluntary groups." 

​SRCHN annual service agreement since 2014 with the District of Sooke. Island Health provides matching funds for a part-time coordinator position filled by SRCHN Executive Director Christine Bossi. The DOS agreement requires ... 
- Sooke Region Resource website
- Sooke Age Friendly Committee (meets monthly under the direction of chair Roy Brown and guided by Christine) 
- Achievement of BC Age-Friendly Committee status 
- Planning for Seniors/Youth Community Activity Centre (aka The Gathering Place) 
- Identify community needs, facilitate community activities 
- Create collaborations and partnerships
- Address issues identified by the Primary Health Care Working Group
- Maintain/develop relationships at regional and provincial levels
- Promote and bolster volunteer activities  

SRCHN Reports and Studies  
​* Youth Activities Report (2021)
* Sooke Region Homelessness Consultation (2021)
​* Sooke Region Food Security Report (2021) 

BC Healthy Communities Age-Friendly Action Guide (2020)


Sooke and Juan de Fuca Health Foundation 
Founded in 2018 to "make funding available to local charities who are working hard to provide health-related services to our local communities." Grants from its general fund have been used to purchase equipment for Ayre Manor and the West Coast Family Medical Clinic and Ayre Manor. The Mary Brown Memorial Fund was established last year specifically to address mental health and disability needs; to date its grants have funded counselling services at the Sooke Shelter Society and the Sooke Family Resources Society. A long-time Shirley resident, Mary Brown was a psychiatric social worker who supported people with disabilities and mental health challenges in Canada, UK, and Australia.

- Purpose
- Board of Directors
- How to Give donations options  + Canada Helps direct link 

Sooke Food Bank
Nov. 2022: "Sooke Residents Are Super Generous" (CTV News) 
- Canada Helps donation page 
- EMCS Leadership students' 10,000 Tonight food drives 
- Christmas Bureau 
- Sooke Fire Services campaign + Santa Run
- Grace Garden at the Sooke Baptist Church 

2018 Statistics (most recent on the website): 
Number of Hampers: 3,270
Average 96 families per week
Average 78 children per week
Average 143 adults per week
Cost to date: $229,069.70
Total Pounds: 118,947
Total Kilograms: 53,953

Sooke Transition House Society 
"Provides emergency shelter for women and their children who are in crisis resulting from family violence. Counselling, education, prevention and advocacy."

Sooke Hospice Society 
"The Sooke Hospice Society is a team of trained volunteers and professionals dedicated to the physical, emotional and spiritual care of individuals who are palliative, as well as their families and loved ones, within the community of Sooke." 

CONTACT: Community Assistance Society 

Low-cost loans of medical equipment (canes, crutches, wheelchairs)

ElderConnect
Sooke Region Community Portal data base for seniors. 

District of Sooke 
- Service agreements with annual funding to ...
* Sooke Region Communities Health Network
* Sooke Family Resource Society
* Sooke Food Bank 

- District grant-hosting for the Sooke Shelter Society's Strengthening Communities grant (2021/22)
 
- District support, council liaison and ongoing engagement via Sooke Bylaw, Sooke Fire Services and Sooke RCMP with the Sooke Homelessness Coalition and local homelessness. 
​
- Community Grants Program support for miscellaneous health-related organizations, including (in 2022) ... 
* SFRS Pre-Natal Program ($7k from the Covid-19 Safe Restart reserve fund)
* Sooke Shelter Society ($7k from the Covid-19 Safe Restart reserve fund)
* Steps to the Future Childcare Society ($5k from the Covid-19 Safe Restart reserve fund)
* KidSport Greater Victoria ($7k) 
* Take A Hike Foundation ($5k) 
* Victoria Brain Injury Society ($1k)


Sooke Service Gaps
Leading Service Gap: Community Health Centre/Urgent Primary Care Centre 
Sooke currently lacks and has long lobbied for a dedicated Urgent Primary Care Centre (UPCC) operating with sufficient staffing and hours common to other UPCCs in British Columbia. District land for this centre is reserved on Lot A.

Patients with doctors in Sooke can drop-in to the West Coast Family Medical Clinic during urgent care hours (M-F, Noon to 4:30 PM). Outside those hours (and for all those without local doctors), individuals are advised to book appointments at the Westshore Urgent Primary Care Centre in Langford. 

  • Urgent care (same day) services are for people who need care within 12-24 hours but do not require an emergency department and who do not have access to a family doctor, nurse practitioner or walk-in clinic in a suitable time frame.
  • Patients experiencing chest pains, severe head injuries or broken bones and any concerns requiring immediate blood testing, x-rays or other diagnostic tests cannot be treated at the UPCC and should attend their local hospital’s emergency department or call 9-1-1 during a health emergency.
  • Patients will be assessed at the Westshore UPCC upon arrival and registered to be seen as capacity allows. 
  • Please note that due to patient volumes, appointments are not guaranteed. Please check medimap.ca for wait times and capacity.

As the West Coast Family Medical Clinic website states: "Please note that the Westshore Urgent Primary Care Centre is the designated clinic for local residents without a Primary Care Provider ... We recognize that many residents of Sooke do not have access to a Primary Care Provider. West Coast Family Medical Clinic does provide limited, same-day access to a Primary Care Provider for local residents (Sooke to Port Renfrew) through our Urgent Care Clinic [open M-F, Noon to 4:30 PM]. Please note that demand for this service usually exceeds our capacity ... To help us better serve those in our community with urgent medical issues or without a Primary Care Provider, please make every effort to see your own Family Physician or Nurse Practitioner for your medical concerns whenever possible. Same-day appointments in the Urgent Care Clinic can be booked online (online booking only available to patients who already have a chart at our office) or by calling our office at 250-642-4233. Phones are answered from 8:30-12:00, and from 1:00-4:30 (3:30 on Fridays). Please note that it can be difficult to get through by telephone at times due to high call volumes." 

- New UPCC Will Deliver Better Health Care to the West Shore (Ministry of Health press release, Oct. 26, 2018) 
- West Shore Clinic Busiest in the Province, Health Minister Says (Times Colonist, Nov. 26, 2019)

Other Urgent and Primary Care Centres in Greater Victoria 
  • James Bay Urgent Primary Care Centre – Victoria
  • Esquimalt Urgent Primary Care Centre – Esquimalt
  • Downtown Victoria Urgent and Primary Care Centre - Victoria 
  • North Quadra Urgent Primary Care Centre – Saanich
  • Gorge Urgent and Primary Care Centre – Victoria  

Community Health Centres
  • Island Sexual Health Community Health Centre – Victoria 

X-Ray Services in Sooke 
- West Coast Medical Imaging Services (M to F, 11 to 4 PM) 
- "Sooke Mayor Pushing or Beter X-Ray Services" - Sooke News Mirror (Nov. 2015) 
- Advocacy statement 
- "In late 2017, West Coast Medical Imaging improved the X-Ray technology available in Sooke" 

Speech therapist? SRCH advocacy in 2017

More on CHCs: BC Association of Community Health Centres
"BCACHC exists to support and advance the Community Health Centre (CHC) model and engage, advocate for, and support CHCs as an integral part of health and social service delivery in BC communities." 
- What Is a Community Health Centre? 
- The Importance of Community Health Centres in BC's Medical Care Reforms (Canadian Centre Policy Alternatives, 2019) 
- Building Ties With The Health System (CARES, 2020) 
- Roadmap to a CHC 


"Sooke has very little capacity to support the growing needs for Island Health Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU) services for our community. There is one free service -- Urgent Short Term Assessment and Treatment (USTAT) -- with capacity or  capacity to serve 16 sessions a week. As small as the free service is, it is currently (October 2022) experiencing challenges with a staffing shortage. The USTAT position has been understaffed for several months … There is no equitable access to MHSU services for people with low income or who lack insurance. There is not enough support available for people who have a low capacity to navigate complex access systems. We have to do better.”

Back Story: Sooke Health & Preventative Care Initiatives 

* Way Back: I'll browse the Sooke Story for clues when i get a chance. 

* Pre-2000: "Becoming an Age Friendly Community, a place where seniors, and all ages, are respected and supported has been the goal of community members long before the term was coined. As our community grew its members identified a need for seniors’ supports. As early as 1945 a Sooke Over 60’s Club was formed, which was the forerunner to the Old Age Pensioners Organization, Branch#88. From that group sprung the Sooke Elderly Citizens Housing Society and the Contact Community Assistance Society (Loan Cupboard and Contact Drivers). By 1975 another group was providing a ‘Meals on Wheels’ program as well as inexpensive lunches. This eventually developed into the Sooke Senior Drop-In Centre. The Sooke Elderly Citizens Housing Society worked tirelessly for over 40 years to acquire land and build an assisted living and extended care building in Sooke. The New Horizons Activity Society was formed in the 1980’s and later became the Sooke Seniors Activity Society which raised funds to purchase and operate a bus to assist with seniors’ transportation to events and shopping excursions." - from the Executive Summary of the Sooke Age-Friendly Action Plan (2015)

* 2005: The Sooke Youth & Adult Navigator Project, Dr. Ellen Anderson and Susan Larke. <clip> "In our rural and remote communities, challenged by MHA service access issues, a community-supported Navigator model was designed to increase access to comprehensive, strengths-based assessment, planning and referral facilitation ... Our model utilised the service of two navigators with complementary skills in social work and psychiatric rehabilitation. One navigator focused primarily on youth under age 19 years and one navigator worked primarily with adults. One navigator was female and one was male. However, it was very important for both of them to be able to work with clients of any age and either sex." 

* 2006/2007: Mayor Evans and her council continue advocacy with the Vancouver Island Health Authority, MLA John Horgan and others for improved health care, notably collaboration with the Sooke Elderly Citizens Housing Society re: the future Ayre Manor Lodge. Other health-oriented work included attendance at the Premier's Council on Seniors and Aging Forum, the Victoria Community Task Force on Cystal Meth, a BC Healthy Community Initiatives workshop, and Planning Institute of British Columbia workshop.  

* Sept. 23, 2006: Sooke Community Health Initiative Forum at the Community Hall 

* Oct. 10, 2006: Announcement that VIHA had signed a $16.1 million contract to construct Ayre Manor. 

* Sept. 8, 2008: "What will it take to create a more age-friendly Sooke?" - day-long conference hosted by Sooke Economic Development Commission in partnership with Sooke Harbour Chamber of Commerce. Participants explored ideas on topics including Community Infrastructure, Safety & Security, Health Services, Active Aging, Life Long Learning, Communication, and Transportation.

* 2009: Launch of Sooke Region Food CHI 

* 2013: Sooke Region Community Health Initiative (CHI) designated as the official Age-Friendly Committee for the District of Sooke

* Fall, 2013: The Primary Health Care Services Working Group (PHCSWG) was formed based on input from the community through Mayor Milne's Advisory Panel on Community Health and Social Initiatives. The working group included members from Sooke Region CHI, Sooke Volunteer Centre, the West Coast Family Medical Clinic, the South Island Division of Family Practice, Island Health and the District of Sooke. 

* Dec. 2013: "A GP for Me" forum. (Britt Santowski's Sooke News Mirror story linked here notes that the BC Liberals made a “2010 Government commitment to provide a family physician for any BC resident who wants one by 2015.”)

* 2014: 
District Service agreement with SRCHN to fund Age Friendly work and meet senior and volunteer goals outlined in the Official Community Plan. (see details at end of this post)

* Highlights of 2013/14 work by PHCSWG
(Nicky Logins, Marlene Barry, Dr. Ellen Anderson, Emma Isaac, Linda Nehra, Wendal Milne)
- Joined Island-wide initiative for a "physician recruitment navigator" position 
- Highlighted gap in X-ray and ultrasound servcies in Sooke. Four UVic Master of Business Administration students develop a business plan for diagnostic services in Sooke
- "Managing At Home: Support Needs for Sooke Seniors" study funded through BC Age-Friendly grant to assess needs of seniors who are medically at risk and facing social isolation.  
- Worked with Island Health to fund two additional hospice beds for Ayre Manor 
- Advocate for support of the Integrated Health Network in Sooke 

* Nov. 2014: Island Health Board of Directors meetings in Sooke hosted by Maja Tait and the District 

*  Dec. 15, 2014: Sooke council appoints a liaison (Mayor Tait) to the PHCSWG. States the Committee of the Whole report: "By focusing on buiding not just the physical infrastructure of our community but also the social infrastructure, local elected officials work hand-in-hand with health care professionals to contribute to citizen's health and social needs." At this time, 74% of Sooke residents do not have doctors in Sooke; remaining 26% lack a doctor at all. Waiting list of 800 patients at West Coast Family Medical Clinic. 

* October 2015: Release of District of Sooke Age-Friendly Action Plan 
"A strong commitment to supporting our seniors, volunteering and caring for others has helped Sooke to become the place it is now. Sooke is an Age Friendly community with a vision and many citizens have the desire to make it more so. We’ve come together to make things happen in the past and will continue to do so far into the future. We understand that when we build to ‘Age Friendly’ we build to accommodate all ages and abilities." 

- 2015: The Province and BC Healthy Communities recognized the District of Sooke as a community that has demonstrated "incredible commitment to supporting older residents to remain healthy and active in their communities." 

* May 28, 2016: Sooke Region Health Summit at the Community Hall hosted by Mayor Tait. Organized around four topics: Healthy Food Accessibility; Special Populations; Medical Services & Infrastructure; Social and Physical Activities. Gaps that were identified in these areas informed the ongoing work of the PHCSWG and the District of Sooke. Read the final report here. 
 
* Nov. 2016: "No Easy Fix for Doctor Shortage" - Kevin Laird, Sooke News Mirror 

* April, 2017:  The CRD Hospitals and Housing Committee endorsed Mayor Tait’s motion entitled, “Support for Pilot Project: A Regional Health Care Facility in Sooke”. Discussion ensued regarding:
"- the similar challenges regarding healthcare for residents of Victoria and Sooke and if they are more acute in Sooke,
- the different needs perceived by the public versus healthcare professionals, 
​- being a part of the CRD means that residents of Sooke are requested to use the facilities in the region that are not necessarily local,

- any facility would be open to residents of Victoria and reduce the load on services in Victoria, and
- the challenges of the highway to Sooke."


MOVED by Director Tait, SECONDED by Director Helps, That the Hospitals and Housing Committee recommends to the Capital Regional District Board that: The District of Sooke and the Sooke Region Primary Health Care Services Working Group calls on the Capital Regional Hospital District, the Province of British Columbia, Island Health, and all levels of government to support a regional health care facility in Sooke. CARRIED

* Summer/Fall 2017: The Sooke Planning Steering Committee was subsequently formed. Committee members include Mayor Tait as well as representatives from the CRD, Sooke Family Physicians, SIDFP, Island Health and the CHN.  See agenda package for: 1. Sooke Region Health Summit – Final Report (Draft); 2. Sooke Fire Rescue Department – Emergency Call Statistics; 3. Correspondence regarding Health Care Services in Sooke; 4. Island Health – 2014 Sooke Local Health Area Profile; 5. Sooke Pocket News Survey – Medical Services in Sooke, April, 2017. 

* Nov. 2017: Sooke Community Heath Care Stakeholders Consultation. Five identified needs: 

"1. Improved Access to Primary Care: Participants identified the desire for more primary care providers (GPs and Nurse Practitioners), citing limited clinic space and incentives to attract more GPs as barriers. The desire for access to longer primary care hours in the evenings and on weekends, including Sundays and holidays was expressed. Same-day access to primary care in urgent circumstances was also desired. Many participants indicated that co-located space would be desirable with all-primary health services integrated (virtually or by physical co-location).
2. Care provided by a team of health care providers (team-based care): Participants indicated that having a care team focused on seniors would be valuable. Also, having Nurse Practitioners or Registered Nurses attached to the Physician clinic would be desired to improve access to primary care.
3. Access to more specialized, locally accessible services: Participants identified the need for more access to Mental Health and Substance Use services, including walk-in services. Also, increased services for isolated seniors were suggested, along with the idea of having a drop-in seniors’ activity centre.
4. Improved access to other key enablers: Currently x-ray services in Sooke are available 7.5 hours/week (Tuesday 8:30am-11:00 am, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9am-11:30am) and laboratory services are available on weekdays (8am-4pm Mondays to Fridays). The community identified more service hours are desirable to improve access and reduce the need to travel outside the community for these services. Maximizing the use of electronic medical/health records was also cited as a key enabler to bolster service provision.
5. Supporting population wellness: Improved health literacy (access to information on wellbeing and how/where to access services) was deemed a priority for participants. Improved transportation (both within Sooke and to destinations outside Sooke) was also cited by participants as needed, particularly on weekends (note: transportation issues are considered out of scope for this plan). Road improvement needs were also identified."

* May 18, 2018: Aging With Grace: Sooke Region Age 55+ Summit 
Keynote speech by Dr. David Docherty, School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, University of Victoria + Overview of the 2018 Provincial Seniors' Summit by Doni Eve, Senior Manager, Healthy Aging, for the Population and Public Health Division of the BC Ministry of Health + talk by Sooke Registered Clinical Counsellor Janet Raynor Thorn titled "/The Croning Years: The Later Life Transformations" + break-out groups re: ElderConnect Seniors' Info Hub. 

* June 16, 2018:  Sooke Community Health Service Engagement with stakeholders at Community Hall 

* Aug. 2018: Sooke Community Health Service Planning Report (Island Health/District of Sooke) 

* Winter/Spring 2018/19: Lot A Charette Concept Plan identifies best possible uses of the town-centre, District-owned property's southeast quadrant as a "5-6-storey Health Centre with limited size independent commercial retail units on the base and market housing units on the upper floors. Second floor office space is also appropriate. This quadrant would include an underground parking component ... conceived as a wood-frame building with a total floor area of approximately 7,000m2." 

-  April 26, 2019:  "Expanded Primary Care Coming to Sooke" (Ministry of Health press release) 

- June, 12, 2020: Official opening of expanded West Coast Family Medical Clinic; "Sooke Clinic Aims to Connect More Patients With Doctors" (Times Colonist)

- 2020/21/22: Advocacy continues with the Ministry of Health for a hybrid Community Heath Centre/Urgent Primary Care Centre on the southeast quadrant of Lot A. 


Miscellaneous 
Media Coverage: BC Health Care Issues 
~ "BC's Health-Care Crisis Is Unrelenting: What Can Be Done To Fix It?" (CBC, Sept. 19, 2022;  includes link to the Situation Critical town hall with Minister Dix and others) 
~ "BC Liberals Call for Audit of Urgent and Primary Care Centres" (Times Colonist, July 27, 2022) 
~ "BC Health Care System Strengthened by New Payment Model for Doctors" (Ministry of Health, Oct. 31, 2022)
​~ "BC Health Minister Calls for Trudeau to Engage on Health Funding" (CBC, Nov. 6, 2022) 

Reports 
- Family Doctors Care: The Role and Value of Family Physicians in BC (BC College of Family Physicians, 2020) 

* BC 211
Free, confidential hot-line consultation 24/7 in 150 languages 

* BC Centre For Disease Control 
- Covid 19 page 
- Business protocols 
- Link to current Province-wide regulations 

* Canadian Mental Health Association: BC Division

* Doctors of BC website + Advocating for family physicians 


Greater Victoria Hospitals 

Capital Regional Hospital District 

This CRD corporation "
partners with Island Health and community stakeholder agencies to develop and improve healthcare facilities in the region and provide capital funding for infrastructure such as acute care, residential care and hospital equipment.
- 10-Year Capital Plan (through 2032) 


Victoria General Hospital 
"Victoria General started as St. Joseph’s Hospital in 1876. The name was changed when the Sisters of St. Ann gave it to the province in 1972.t The new VGH opened in 1983 on Hospital Way off Helmcken. A 368-bed community-based acute- care facility, it provides general adult & pediatric surgery including orthopedics, endoscopy, maternity & neo-natal ser- vices, sexual assault nurse examiner, as well as mammography, asthma, dia- betes, & respiratory clinics, cancer care, icu, rehabilitation, and much more."

Royal Jubilee Hospital 
Founded in the 1860s and now featuring 500 beds. It offers critical care, surgery, diagnostics, emergency facilities, with a special focus on cardiac medicine. 

Victoria Hospital Foundation 
Supporting care teams at Royal Jubilee, VGH and Gorge Road hospitals.  


Third United Way of British Columbia Provincial Aging Summit (2022) 


"The District of Sooke has entered into a Service Agreement with the SRCHN to provide the following services:
 
• Sooke Region Resource website:
o website improvements, updates and maintenance;

• Age Friendly Committee for Sooke:
o develop planning and/or activities to achieve official provincial status for Sooke as an Age Friendly Community

• Seniors/Youth/Community Activity Centre:
o Identify the needs of the community
o Initiate and facilitate community forum/s or other opportunities to discuss development of a community activity centre, and to inform Council on this initiative
o Solicit partnerships and engage support from interested potential partner organizations
o Goal of September 30 2014 completion date for these services

• Primary Health:
o address issues identified through the Primary Health Care Working Group and Mayor‘s Panel, Community Health and Social Initiatives
o maintain and further develop relationships at regional and provincial levels for community health initiatives
• Volunteer Initiatives:
o Explore funding opportunities to implement OCP identified Volunteer initiatives and activities that promote Sooke‘s claim as the Volunteer Capital of Canada

VIHA has been an avid supporter of SRCHN, matching funds provided by the District of Sooke to fund our activites. As of 2014, VIHA has provided funding for a part-time coordinator's position to futher collaboration and increase opportunities for the region. This was very appreciated by SRCHN as grants often do not provide the possibility to pay indirect costs such as services rendered."

Addendum
Here's an excerpt (shared by permission) of the speaking notes read by Roy Brown at a memorial concert for his late wife Mary Brown held at the Anglican Church in December, 2022. The concert was a Sooke and Juan de Fuca Health Foundation fundraiser for Mary Brown Memorial Fund, which supports local charities delivering services to people with mental health and/or disability needs.  A social scientist and practitioner, Roy is Chair of the Sooke Age-Friendly Committee and recipient of the Dr Robert E; Cooke Lifetime achievement award-American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry. 

"The following are some of the challenges faced by the relevant families where there are challenging and serious life issues.  If one compares life satisfaction characteristics between families with disability issues with a random sample of the population of the same age without mental health and disability concerns, there are great discrepancies in the following:

- 
Health issues
- 
Financial wellbeing
- Family relations
- Support from other people 
- Support from Disability related services - Over 50% of those responding are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.
- Spiritual and cultural needs.
- Careers and preparation for careers.
- Leisure and enjoyment of life. 
- Community and civic involvement.

The more severe the conditions the greater the discrepancy between the control group (no major mental health or disability issues) and those with disabilities. This data was collected in BC and is consistent with other studies. 

I want to make such concerns more concrete and exemplify one simple technique that can be introduced. In one sense light hearted but serious. My mom was celebrating her 100th birthday and was at a party with care staff from the day program she attended. She had severe Alzheimer’s. She brought  along a book of photos representing her life. Staff asked to look at it. Mom wanted to know what the staff were talking about.  Well Mom, the staff say you were a beautiful woman.  Yes,I was She said!  banging her walking stick on the ground!

Then  I realised: The staff did not know the broad details of her life and were learning it for the first time. I now recommend that end of life programs should ensure that families have a book of their loved one’s life. It broadens staff knowledge of the person they are caring for. It is also a visual aid for their patient or client. Remember one is more likely to lose recall skills and retain recognition for longer." 

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JPMP Pause & Reflect: Sooke Lions Centre

11/26/2022

10 Comments

 
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November 26, 2022 Update: The Lions have opted to "pause and reflect on what would best serve our community and our Club" following the release of a consultant's report on the Sept. 25 Open House at the Community Hall and a subsequent online survey conducted by the District.  You'll find a letter from the Lions (pg. 277) and the report (pp. 151-287) in the Nov. 28 regular council agenda.   

Approx. 200 people attended the open house (me too). The  overwhelming viewpoint left on the message boards was "no, not in JPMP," an opinion delivered variously on the polite-to-blunt spectrum ranging from respectful appreciation for a solid civic-minded proposal by a valued community organization with long continuing years of service to Sooke ... to heartfelt paeans to the park as it exists today and negative expressions of all caps and multiple !!! vigor.

There were thumbs up too, but in a distinct minority 
even though the Alternative Approval Process mustered less than 10% against (in Covid times granted) ... and, anecdotally, many were in favour (who knows how many without a referendum).
 

In the e-survey, the District received 247 responses -- 97 strongly agreed and 24 agreed with the statement "would you like the Lions to explore creating a community multi-use space for Sooke?" ... 58 strongly disgreed and 16 disagreed. (49 were neutral). 97 wanted this multi-use space in JPMP, 150 said elsewhere. 

[Visit the
District's dedicated page for a full-meal of background material.]

The recent Lions letter in full: 


November 15, 2022
SOOKE LIONS
Box 248, Sooke, B.C. V9Z 0S9


To: Mayor and Council, District of Sooke 
Re: John Phillips Memorial Park land lease

Many years prior to Sooke incorporating, the Sooke Lions had the foresight to purchase land on Murray Rd and develop a Park. Due to vandalism issues and the development of other Parks in the District this land has not been utilized fully. For over a decade the Sooke Lions have been negotiating with the District of Sooke to trade Murray Rd property for another venue that will provide better needs to the community.

The District of Sooke is growing exponentially and needs more community multi-use facilities. Our latest vision was to sell the District Murray Rd at a reduced cost and develop an active facility in John Phillips Memorial Park. Initially we appeared to have Council's full support for this endeavour.

After our Town Hall meeting and the subsequent consultants report we see the community is divided. They desire a new facility to anchor events, but not at the cost of giving up park lands. Currently we do not feel the Council is fully supportive of our plan and therefore have decided to pause and reflect on what would best serve our community and our Club.

The ideal solution would have been for the developer to cede the two acres at the south end of the Park. If those negotiations succeeded it would have been a win-win for all.

The disposition of our Murray Rd property will be the subject of further discussion amongst our members. We have received offers to purchase the land. The District is invited to make an offer separate from the previous negotiations. The Club may keep the land and build a smaller hall.

In closing I would like to thank Christina Moog and Jennifer Royer Collard for their support and efforts in this process.

Sincerely,
Lion Danny Willis
Sooke Lions Project Chairman


Tonight's staff report states: "Administration wishes to extend an invitation to the Lions Club to keep discussions open about a potential community facility in the future." We on council will undoubtedly do likewise. 

​In my campaign take on this eventful process, I wrote that the 2018-22 council "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."

I'm now left with paradoxical feelings ...

- gratitude to the Lions for taking the high road, recognizing the groundswell of opposition, and calling time-out for reflection.

- disappointment indeed that we on council didn't get to proceed further with a frank discussion about the what nexts of the Lion's proposal, which with creativity, care, attention and task-force engagement could have evolved into a win-win-win on multiple (if never, ever all) fronts ... and still ideally will.

- relief to see it in the rear-view given the way things had devolved into a Sooke-scale civil war of words, letters to the editor, misinformation of the clubhouse/paving-the-park variety, and red graffiti sprayed/slashed across the open-house notice board. (At the election speed-rate at the hall, two voters -- one pro, the other con -- stomped away from my table after I declined to mirror their viewpoints and instead suggested we should keep the proposal alive and evolving.) 

- abiding curiosity about where things go next (read on for clues) 

Ahead at some TBD point in time (2023 if it's to be included in our budget) is a John Phillips Memorial Park masterplanning update as recommended in short-term action item 5.2 (pg. 73) of the Parks and Trails Masterplan.

There's no shortage of available views and opinions to work from dating from the original 2006 JPMP committee report to last month's feedback. I figure a time-limited task force should be struck to analyze available data and report back to council re: JPMP.  It would logically  include x-number of citizen reps along with one each from District staff, council, the Lions, immediate area residential developers, and others to be identified in the Terms of Reference. Better that, I think, then going back to square one with still more public input echoing themes/needs/wants already heard. 

[See the District's JPMP page for contextual material such as this ... 

Park Philosophy
As reported in 2005 and 2016, community response shows a strong desire for a park that:
  • Maintains our green space and preserves the natural areas while making the best use of the parks’ greatest feature, the pond.
  • Promotes an active, well-used park that caters to the general public.
  • Serves a wide range of community needs including those of seniors, families, youth, children and tourists and provides accessibility for those with special needs.
  • Provides a central gathering area for family and neighbourhood groups, festivals, community markets.
  • Acts as a hub with pathways connecting to community trails and the downtown core.
  • Provides adequate parking with additional access to be by pathways.]
 
The top requested amenities in this fall's District e-survey were "an anchor for hosting special events," a "performance stage," "a meeting/program space for 20-30 people," "a banquet hall for 200 people," "a commercial kitchen" and a "playground" -- all of which save the playground was included in the Lions proposal. (It also included Lion John Farmer's promising proposal for an on-site sensory garden ... see Kew Gardens' best practice guide to creating one.)  

The time-out also means the community will be able to gauge the impact on JPMP by residents of RG Foster Development's 2023-ready 77-unit apartment building at the former Mulligans. (The Vancouver developer is also involved with phase three of Viewpointe Estates, I learn in visiting its website.) 

And we'll see how the Lions determine the future of its P2-zoned Murray Road property. (We need waterside town-centre green space to be sure. But you'll all remember the non-starting Habitat For Humanity proposal in 2017/18, which would have required a rezone to go ahead. Truly affordable housing for low-income families is a significant town-centre need too. The Victoria-based Community Social Planning Council's recent Filling the Gap report spotlights Sooke on pp. 27-32. According to this report based on our own Housing Needs Assessment, 715 Sooke households with incomes well below the median are in "core housing need," meaning these people are living in situations that don't meeting national housing standards re: adequacy (i.e., repairs are needed), affordability (costs are more than 30% of before-tax household income), and suitability (homes are too small for the size of the household.)  The two BC Housing projects on the town-centre east side will provide 245 of these below-market rent units. 

Yes, we all love our golf-course-turned-central park (and many more of us should be getting out and enjoying it in person rather than doing so in theory or during drive-bys).  Yes, we need community facilities. Yes, happily, there is energy to dream large and make things happen in Sooke as the Lions and the Gathering Place cohorts are proving. And yes, sometimes long-game plans go pear-shaped and require u-turns to see fresh possibilities as is the case here. 

In time, Aragon Properties -- owner of the wedge of land near Wadams Way that Lion Willis references in his letter, i.e. the white crescent in the map above -- will be further along with its Wadams Farm development and ready to tackle its second of two Sooke projects, Nott Brook (zoned for 127 homes on the west side of the old golf course).

Negotiations with the District will then renew over that piece of land, a portion of which will ideally feature a future roundabout to keep traffic flowing at the junction of Otter Point Rd. and the future bypass route linking Wadams Way with Grant Road West. 

What else might find a home on this land if indeed the District can secure it? Time, as it reliably always does, will tell. 


March 17, 2022 Update: The Sooke Lions have now produced architectural renderings, exact mapping and a refinement of its one-page mission statement as the prelude to further council and public engagement. All is included in the Land Use & Development Committee's supplemental agenda dated March 16. 

"SOOKE LIONS CENTRE
A FLUID PLAN TO BUILD A COMMUNITY ASSET
- to enhance the usability of John Philips Memorial Park for the residents of Sooke
- to have a building to anchor events such as Canada Day, concerts, festivals, farmers/craft markets, and more
- to have sustainability with a tenant that provides for communities needs such as a daycare.
- to have a meeting space for service clubs, seniors, youth, and other community groups
- to have a smaller hall with ambience for weddings, small conferences, and other community gatherings
- to have another asset for Emergency Preparedness that may be used in the event of any community disaster
- to be built with the utmost care in being environmentally aware and minimal carbon footprint.
- funds will be raised through government grants, fundraisers, and community contributions
- the Centre will be managed by a separate community society
- for more information and to provide input go to sookelions.com - lions centre" 

The LUC members were  to weigh in on the staff question: "What additional information may help inform the community and what matters should be specifically highlighted when considering the advantages and disadvantages to the Sooke Lions proposal?"   Unfortunately, traffic troubles being what they are at the moment, only four committee members arrived in time yesterday and they were one short of quorum. So as per procedural guidelines, the meeting had to be cancelled. (The needed member showed up shortly afterwards, however the one person from the public in the gallery alongside Cllr Lajeunesse and myself had already left and it wasn't appropriate to carry on without her.) 

I imagine council will now soon receive the new Lions material and we'll make our decision on the next step. My thought is that this should entail a town hall gathering where everyone in Sooke would have the opportunity to speak their piece, minus masks (if that's your choice) and in a venue like the Community Hall, site of so much such spirited community dialogue in the past.

Only after all have been heard in person should council make a final call: To go ahead as legislatively permitted under the AAP guidelines or perhaps make this a "yay/nay" referendum question determined by 50%+1 majority during the October election. (I was asked recently whether this is a "contentious issue" in Sooke. Two former Sooke Mayors and at least one former councillor that I know support the Lions proposal but not the location; and nearly 10% of registered voters submitted an AAP response form last fall in coming this close to automatically triggering a referendum. So yes, fairly contentious, I'd say, and therefore likely best settled with a ballot question if the guiding principle is to heal community divides, not exacerbate them.) 

Alternately, the 2020 Parks and Trails Masterplan (page 68) calls for a JPMP planning process "with full community engagement" as one of its short-term priorities. However this is set-up -- task force? committee? -- I would think the starting point would be a close review of the 2006 John Phillips Memorial Park Trust Committee's final report. 


In the meantime, what Mayor Tait stated last October still very much applies: "At this time, no decision has been made on the future of John Phillips Memorial Park." 


Oct. 31, 2021 Update: The process continues as per Mayor Tait's October letter to the community, which includes this telling line: "At this time, no decision has been made on the future of John Phillips Memorial Park." (And yet I keep hearing, from a persistent few, that it's a done deal. Not so, and never has been. District staff have told us they'll report back early in 2022 on council's request for "lease details, the Development Permit process and options for further public engagement." In the case of the latter, this will likely result in recommendations for town halls and open houses  sessions where more information can be shared and everyone heard.) 


Council received the results of the Alternate Approval Process at its Sept. 20 meeting (see pp. 213-214). As of the deadline five days earlier, 1,026 response forms had been received, a slim 97 short of the necessary number to officially initiate a referendum. All of us on council recognized that this was a significant figure and that it reflects community concern.

Bona fide questions have been raised:  


* How, through the Development Permit process, will the park's environmental values to be protected on a site not far from Nott Brook Pond?
* How will the building meet requirements of our new OCP and embody Sooke's Net-Zero future? 
* Where precisely are the building and parking footprints? 
* Will the parking area be permeable or paved?
* 
Reaffirm and further clarify how the proposal will serve the community rather than being a "private clubhouse" as it has been false-flagged. (From the get-go, the Lions have stated the following: reception and convention space with 300-person capacity, commercial kitchen, offices, an outdoor stage and a concession stand + childcare facilities and emergency reception.)
* How does the proposal dovetail with the evolution of JPMP as a community park? 
* Relative importance of public acquisition of a dedicated park on Murray Road (aka Lions Park)? 
* Have alternative locations for the Lions Centre been exhausted? 


Here's the official distillation of council's discussion on Sept. 20 ... 

Minutes for the Regular Council Meeting of the District of Sooke - September 20, 2021

13.1. Alternate Approval Process Results - John Phillips Memorial Park (Councillor Beddows declared a conflict of interest as he is a member of the Sooke Lions Club and left the meeting at 9:03 p.m.)

The Mayor advised that this is not a District project. The District is the landholder and received a proposal from the Sooke Lions Club for the development. Staff followed the legislative requirements for the process and provided the required information. She advised there are historical plans for the enhancement of this community park, which were considered in this request.

The Director of Corporate Services provided an overview of the written staff report, outlining the Alternative Approval Process (APP), availability of electoral response forms, elector approval responses and provided options for consideration related to the next steps.

Council Discussion:


Council provided the direction and authority to conduct an assessment of the community's perspective through the APP.
  • This amenity would increase park function greatly and be better utilized.
  • John Phillips Memorial Park is an accessible location, through the active transportation trail network, and would offer a quality location for future events.
  • Communication on this proposal went above the legislative requirements, adocument was prepared by staff, the content was curated for the website, and staff undertook many hours of face-to-face, email and phone conversations to provide information to those using the park.
  • The reason for the lack of design drawings was due to the Sooke Lions not wanting to expend excess funds in advance of the community vote.
​​
2021-338
MOVED by Councillor Tony St-Pierre, seconded by Councillor Dana Lajeunesse: 
THAT this report pertaining to the Certification of Results regarding the Alternative Approval Process conducted to seek approval of the electors to lease a portion of John Phillips Memorial Park to the Sooke Lions be received for information.


CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY In Favour: Mayor Maja Tait, Councillor Jeff Bateman, Councillor Dana Lajeunesse and Councillor Tony St-Pierre. Absent: Councillor Al Beddows, Councillor Ebony Logins, and Councillor Megan McMath

2021-339
MOVED by Councillor Jeff Bateman, seconded by Councillor Tony St-Pierre: 
THAT Council direct staff to bring back a report containing the lease details, the Development Permit process and options for further engagement.


CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY In Favour: Mayor Maja Tait, Councillor Jeff Bateman, Councillor Dana Lajeunesse,and Councillor Tony St-Pierre. Absent: Councillor Al Beddows, Councillor Ebony Logins, and Councillor Megan McMath

And here's the full text of Mayor Tait's October commentary, which she read into the record at the Oct. 12 council meeting: 

"Specific to the Lions’ Club Proposal at John Phillips Memorial Park, Council has directed staff to bring back a report forward containing the lease details, the Development Permit process, and options for further engagement. 

I recognize there was confusion with the alternative approval process (AAP) and concerns about why this path was identified. The park has considerable history and has been the focus of several community conversations over the years. John Phillips Memorial Park has been identified as a community park with purposes that include 1) a destination park that serves residents and visitors, 2) forms the visual, physical and social focus of our community and 3) offers natural feature and/or built facilities.

The Lions’ proposal presented an option to advance community amenities for consideration. To determine viability of this option, the AAP took place.  With future development in the area including new housing and a significant transit corridor, while also being connected by safe bike and pedestrian access – this is an opportunity to action smart growth and ensure our community has universally accessible amenities to meet our growing needs. 

At this time, no decision has been made on the future of John Phillips Memorial Park." 



August 18 Update: The Alternative Approval Process opened last week and ends on Sept. 15. Further information on the project from the District here and at an AAP explainer page that includes the elector response form you'll need to sign and submit if you're opposed. Should 1,122 others join you, then a referendum it shall be. 

If you have doubts about the democratic fairness of the AAP, formally known as a "counter petition" or the more attention-grabbing "negative vote," here's an editorial/rationale from the Cowichan Valley Citizen newspaper related to an AAP in its area held last year. <clip> "If we sent everything to referendum we’d have a completely unwieldy system of government where nothing ever got done ... Though imperfect, as any system is, it actually manages to be a decent middle ground between council making a decision and a full-scale referendum. It does allow the public to have a voice beyond the usual consultations, or sending in letters of protest. It can also be decent at gauging just how much opposition there may be in the community to a particular idea, though sometimes it can lead to a loud minority carrying the day." 

Interesting to see how this unfolds. Lots of support vs. rumblings against, especially in the wake of last week's Sooke News Mirror article, a letter this week and the promise of further pushback by well spoken somebody/somebodies who've labelled him/her/themselves "Sookeonfire Taxpayers." 

As noted below, Sooke last went to an AAP in spring 2020 when locking in our ability to borrow funds to pair with the $4.6 million federal/provincial grant we recently received to expand the wastewater treatment plant.  

While I don't speak for my council colleagues (and certainly not Cllr. Beddows, who as a Lion himself has always and ever recused himself from any in-camera or public council discussions on the matter), I think it's fair to say the six others of us opted for the AAP approach vs. referendum for these reasons:  i) The consensus public vision for JPMP since its acquisition by the District 15 years ago was that it evolve into a popular, well-utilized central park, not a sanctuary/refuge for the relative few (as per the conclusions of the JPMP Trust Committee and two Parks & Trails Master Plans); ii) The chosen site (once considered for the new library and covering approx. 10% of the total parkland) is nicely positioned in the rarely utilized meadow area, leaving its finest natural features untouched (i.e., the pond, the poplars, the northern hillside loop trail); iii) The Lions have developed a multi-faceted vision that will fill gaps and serve community needs -- including day care, an emergency reception centre and a concert stage, all within steps of the town centre. Plus it's a fluid, developing proposal, the Lions welcome community ideas and input, and (most importantly) they have the will, appetite and enthusiasm to make it happen.  

                                                  ********************************************************


​The Sooke Lions Club has stepped up boldly (as is its nature) with a plan for a multi-purpose community gathering place in the southwest corner of John Phillips Memorial Park. See pp. 179-188 of Monday night's council agenda for a map, a rationale statement by the applicant (both attached below), the business plan and the pair of options available to council and the District in securing elector approval for the required long-term lease of public land. 

The proposal -- labelled as a "Community Hall" on the map but known formally as the "Sooke Lions Centre" -- calls for a 21st Century companion and counterpart to our wonderfui 1937 heritage hall on Eustace. The business plan highlights parkside reception and convention space with 300-person capacity (suitable for meetings, weddings, family parties and public events) + commercial kitchen, offices, an outdoor stage and a concession stand. 

A much-needed daycare centre is part of the vision. Facilities would be available for multi-generational programming. And the two-storey building would double as a reception centre in the event of a large-scale emergency.  All within the five-to-ten minute walkability zone that our evolving Official Community Plan has identified as critical in unlocking the potential of a compact town centre in which the majority of our population resides. 

The tentative deal on the table would see the Lions sell its Murray Road pocket park behind Pizzability to the District at a fair-market price; the Lions would plough the proceeds back into the new build and the District will retain the Murray Road green space as P1-zoned (public recreation use) parkland.  They'd also secure the long-term lease of 1.9 acres of the park at the foot of the southwest slope leading up to Wadams Way. (Back in 2016, I believe the same approximate spot was mulled by council of the day as a site for the new Sooke library prior to their savvy decision to purchase Lot A.) 

Given that JPMP is owned by the District (i.e., all of us), the Community Charter requires that any sale or, in this case, lease of public park land receive "approval of the electors," to quote Monday's staff report. "There are two processes through which this can be achieved: Assent Voting and the Alternative Approval Process (AAP)."  

The first option would involve a referendum (likely to be held during the Oct. 2022 municipal election). The AAP, on the other hand, requires at least 10% of eligible Sooke voters (i.e., 1,123 precisely) to formally express their opposition and thus trigger a referendum with a 50% + 1 vote majority deciding the question. (AAPs are relatively commonplace in BC when councils determine that a subject isn't divisive enough to require a referendum; for mostly recent examples, see Nanaimo, Esquimalt, North Cedar, Courtenay, Pemberton, Port Alberni, the Peace River district, and our own Capital Regional District). 

Council will determine on Monday night whether to accept the staff recommendation that we proceed with the AAP process this year. [This council's one experience with an AAP was in the first quarter of 2020 re: Sewer Loan Authorization Bylaw No. 776 (pp. 153-159), which will allow the District to borrow up to $2.2 million to pay our share of a $6.8 million expansion of the wastewater treatment plant. The remainder would be covered by the federal/provincial Investing In Canada Infrastructure Program. There was no public opposition, and we now eagerly await word on a $4.6 million grant that would increase the plant's currently challenged capacity by 50%, thus accommodating incoming growth through at least 2040 -- population 22k by then, state the CRD projections -- and ensuring the environmental health of the harbour and basin.]

Variations on the Lions Centre idea have been percolating for more than a decade as the Sooke clubs sought a long-term lease on centrally located public land. Smack in the heart of our smart-growth town centre, the park is the wholly logical spot. JPMP has been envisioned as a well-utilized central park ever since the District acquired the eastern half of the old golf course in 2005 (following the controversial covenant-shred documented in the minutes from this 2004 public hearing; see pp. 5-10).  

​That civic-park vision was captured after full public input by the JPMP Trust Committee chaired by Neil Flynn. It delivered its findings in late 2006. (See pp. 7 to 23 of this agenda for the final report.)  And it's been reaffirmed in two successive Parks & Trails Masterplans, most recently the 2020 version where it's identified as a "community park" and defined as "a destination park that services residents and visitors; helps to form the visual, physical and social focus of the community; offers natural features and/or built facilities, cultural features and other opportunities; and supports diverse activities - picnics, special events, sports, play areas, recreation." (see pg. 26-44.) 

If successful, the Sooke Lions Centre proposal would substantially launch the JPMP committee's vision of a vibrant community green space -- specifically, to quote the 2006 report, an "active, well-used park" that "caters to the general public rather than individual or small-group ownerships," "provides a meeting place, a central gathering area, for family and neighbourhood groups, festivals, community markets, etc." and "serves a wide range of community needs, including those of seniors, families, youth, children and tourists."

All while maintaining the park's natural assets, especially the pond, the trails, grassy expanses and the shady places. No question that extra careful, environmentally sensitive development of the site will be required, as the Lions are fully aware.  

Over the last 15 years, loop walking trails have been embedded in the naturescape and it was determined that a Sooke bike park, as recommended in the report, would be (and is) a better fit next to Stan Jones Field at SEAPARC. Yet aside from a handful of summer events, JPMP has remained a serene green space populated by relatively small numbers of walkers, dog owners, fitness groups and Nott Pond's armada of ducks and red-winged blackbirds. 

Since 2019, however, aspects of the vision have picked up momentum along with so much else in our rapidly maturing town core. Washrooms, a water fountain and signage for the Stickleback Urban Trail have been added. The relocated Sooke Country Market has drawn great numbers on Saturday mornings this summer and last just south of the Municipal Hall.  A long-overdue public parking lot in the current site of the market was negotiated earlier this year as part of the deal the District struck with the developer of a pair of mixed-use commercial/residential rental buildings (see pp. 7-122) at the former Mulligans/Speed Source. And just last night the Sooke Program of the Arts Committee passed a motion (pp. 7-15) asking council to hire professionals to blueprint a design for festival and event infrastructure (an amphitheatre, for instance) in the park. 

Now enter this ambitious possibility, one with a far-bigger scope and community purpose than the traditional "Lions Dens" established as home bases by and for Lions Clubs world-wide. As the map shows, the area in question is a 1.9 acre slice at the edge of a scoop of private land (not actual parkland as so many of us assume) owned by Aragon Properties. (Aragon is the widely respected Kitsilano-based boutique developer of the now-approved Wadams Farm housing project and also owners of the property on the western half of the former golf course destined for the future Nott Brook development of 127 single-family homes.)

This private land (zoned R3 - Small Lot Residential) on the east side of Otter Point Rd. will ideally be part of the future roundabout that will access the Lions project while also servicing traffic flows from Wadams Way, Otter Point and a new stretch of Wadams linking up with Grant Road (possibly via another roundabout at Gatewood, a right-of-way that logically would be opened up for through traffic from Eustace.) 

Personally, I'm excited. LIke so many in Sooke, I respect and value the long-standing community contributions of the Lions, the Sooke Lionesses and the Sooke Harbourside Lions (as conveyed to me in person over the years by the  members I've befriended over coffee at the Stick -- Pat Forrest, John Patterson, Randy Welters and Maxine & Godfrey Medhurst -- as well as my former across-the-street neighbours, Jeanette & Larry Umbach.  The Lions Clubs International purpose and ethics shared by 1.4 million members  world-wide says it all. Like so many in Sooke, it's clear to me that these folks and their colleagues have Sooke's very best interests at heart and that this proposal smartly addresses local needs.)

Whether Sooke at large agrees or not is the next question. Some people will likely and understandably not be in favour of losing this portion of the park's lightly populated, peaceful character that has been the norm since the cries of fore from golfers were silenced. If we do indeed agree to okay the Alternative Approval Process, then opponents will need to organize and find support from those 1,122 others in Sooke needed to spark a referendum. (The required AAP forms are included in Monday's agenda linked at the outset above.) 


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10 Comments

Years in Review: 2018-2022

10/13/2022

1 Comment

 
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 



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Half-not-All Candidates Meeting Speaking Notes: Oct. 11, 2022, Sooke Community Hall

10/12/2022

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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." 



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Bathroom Reading: Sooke Sewers

10/8/2022

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March 29, 2023 Update from DOS Communications Coordinator Christina Moog, posted on the District's Wastewater Planning website page

"The District has received notice that we were not successful with our wastewater service expansion 2021 grant application for either the Whiffin Spit or Kaltasin proposals.

We remain committed to basin restoration. As such, as mentioned during the consultation, the District will develop a formal Septic System Management Program. It is anticipated this Program will include public education and a request for inclusion in the CRD Septic System Management Bylaw. A dedicated web page on septic care is available at sooke.ca/septiccare. 

For Whiffin Spit, the District will not continue to initiate wastewater service expansion to this neighbourhood without additional funding sources.

For Kaltasin, the District is actively pursuing other means to secure funding given:

  • the interest expressed by property owners during the consultation;
  • the high priority needs for wastewater servicing in this area as identified in the Liquid Waste Management Plan (2010);
  • our partnership with the T’Sou-ke Nation.

We anticipate having more information regarding potential wastewater expansion for the Kaltasin neighbourhood in the next few months.

Property owners wishing to stay informed on the Septic System Management Program are encouraged to subscribe to receive meeting agendas/notifications at sooke.ca/meetings.

Monthly electronic newsletters are also available to help keep residents informed. Those who are not already subscribed, and are interested in signing up for these once-per-month newsletters, can do so on the District’s website under the “online services tab.”

On behalf of the project team, thank you for your engagement in this process. Your time, patience and active participation are critical to local government operations. I am grateful for your involvement and hope that you will stay connected with District activities."

Letter sent on March 29 to Whiffin Spit homeowners such as myself: 

Good morning,

The District has received notice that we were not successful with our wastewater service expansion 2021 grant application for Whiffin Spit.
 
In listening to property owners, we understand the costs of establishing sewer connections to Whiffin Spit may be cost-prohibitive and that considerable grant funding would likely be needed for this project to proceed as a District-led initiative. As such, the District will not continue to initiate wastewater service expansion to Whiffin Spit without additional funding sources.
 
On behalf of the project team, I recognize this news may be met with relief for some and perhaps frustration and disappointment for others.
 
When initiating this project in December 2021, we shared: Improving this area’s underground services has been identified by the District’s Liquid Waste Management Plan since 2010 to help protect our community’s natural environment and assist property owners with a sustainable wastewater management solution.
 
We remain committed to this work.
 
As mentioned during the consultation, the District has also initiated efforts to develop a formal Septic System Management Program. Such a Program will offer a path forward for the District to maintain its commitment to protecting our community’s natural environment.
 
Please visit sooke.ca/septiccare to learn more about best practices in maintaining your septic system.
 
Should property owners wish to initiate wastewater service expansion, you may do so by petitioning for this service. Learn more about this process by visiting the Province of British Columbia/Local Area Services web page at sooke.link/yR5Z.
 
Staff anticipate bringing a report forward on the potential scope of a Septic System Management Program at an upcoming public meeting. Should you wish to stay informed on this next step, refer to sooke.ca/meetings and opt-in (subscribe) to receive meeting agendas/notifications or view the meeting calendar.
 
Please also know that the District provides a monthly e-newsletter to help keep residents informed. If you are not already subscribed, I invite you to do so.  Sign up on District’s website - under the “online services tab.”
 
Once again, on behalf of the project team, thank you for your engagement in this process. Your time, patience and active participation are critical to local government operations.  I am grateful for your involvement and hope that you will stay connected with District activities.
 
All property owners will also receive this notice by mail (in the event they are not on this electronic mailing list) and an update will be posted to the project web page shortly."

 


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 be in favour if there were local 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)

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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) 

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Campaign 2022 Q&A Responses

10/5/2022

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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. 

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OCP Public Hearing ~ Sept. 27, 7 pm

9/27/2022

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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."
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Next step for the Official Community Plan

9/7/2022

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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. 



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Sparking Community Development

8/31/2022

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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.]


********************************************************************************************************************

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.) 

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Our Up-Sooke-Sized Building Boom

8/26/2022

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Picture
A rare winter day in Sooke in this artist's visualization of two of three potential WestUrban commercial/rental buildings on Brownsey Blvd.
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."


***************************************************************************************************************************

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. 

Picture
Large family Country Grocer development (rezoning and Development Permit yet to be filed)
Picture
Tow buildings, ground-floor commercial, 77 apartments and parking on commercially zoned land at the site of the former Mulligans/Speed Source at John Philips Memorial Park
Picture
Wadams Farm development, Church Rd. and Wadams Way
Picture
Mariner's Village screenshot from the Sooke Zoning Bylaw
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