Join the Friends of Uplands Park today to pull broom

It isn’t a great secret that Uplands Park is filled with non-native species, especially the highly-invasive Scotch Broom and Daphne. Thankfully, there is a group doing something about it: Friends of Uplands Park.

Founded by Margaret Lidkie, who has been leading broom and daphne eradication efforts in the parks for years, and Kathleen Matthews, Friends of Uplands Park has granted $1000 by the Muncipality for their continued work.

So join them this afternoon from 1 to 4pm. Meet at the info table near Beach Drive at Cattle Point. Bring tools (loopers, pruners, etc.), wear appropriate clothing including gloves, and most importantly, friends and family.

Council delays Oak Bay Lodge decision

At last night’s marathon council session, council ultimately decided to delay the decision until early November (either the 7th or 14th). Baptist Housing apparently faces a deadline of November 10th for their funding, which is intertwined in the Mount View property in Saanich, so this delay still allows them to complete the deal.

The plan has changed somewhat, with the building dropping by one metre and pulling back towards Cadboro Bay Rd, at the cost of four mature Garry Oak trees, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy neighbours, who were fairly unanimous in saying they felt that the project was rushed and out of scale with the neighbourhood.

Another bone of contention was the revelation that although the plans were filed initially in late May, it wasn’t until August that they were brought forward. The delay was at the request of Baptist Housing, although whether they had to for legal reasons or not is unclear.

Baptist Housing did promise to work with the neighbours on the design, although it seems fairly clear that the total number of beds, 320, isn’t going to change, as that is part of the 550+ that Baptist Housing has said it will provide to VIHA between Oak Bay Lodge and Mount View. Councillor Ney did wonder why Oak Bay got the larger number, but Baptist Housing said that Mount View is already a 7-story building.

After Baptist Housing meets with the neighbours, it will head back to Council on October 24th, likely to be sent for the legally-required public notification period of two weeks, which brings the decision back either on November 14th or the 7th, depending on if council decides to hold a special council meeting that night.

As a final aside, likely this will be Mayor Causton’s final major decision, as he mentioned that when he first arrived as mayor, his first was sewage. He laughed as he said there was “no link”.

Oak Bay releases Active Transportation Plan

Oak Bay Council last night approved the Active Transportation Plan, a first for the municipality. Developed by Boulevard, based here in Greater Victoria, the plan covers walking and cycling, as well as touching on public transit.

I will have more to say about in the next day or so, but I wanted to post it here so other’s could read it. Please ignore the comments on the side of the page, they are my notes.

[download id=”10″ format=”1″] And sorry about the size, I wanted to upload at a high resolution so that the maps came through.

Quick followup on Oak Bay Lodge

(Sorry about the delay in this update, I have been on vacation from the 18th to the 26th)

Just a few clarifying points on my post on Oak Bay Lodge just over a week ago:

  • The building is to be 6 stories, not 5
  • The Mount Tolmie lands ultimate disposition is unclear at this time. Saanich Council has made it very clear that they will not rezone the land, so that likely ends any chance of it being sold off.
  • Where is the cost/benefit analysis of replacing vs repairing Oak Bay Lodge that Oak Bay Council asked for, and was promised by VIHA CEO Waldner, in Janurary 2010?

Ultimately, I suspect that like the school, which was just delayed, I suspect this project won’t start construction this fall.

Baptist Housing proposes 5-story Oak Bay Lodge replacement

Baptist Housing, owner of many senior’s facilities in British Columbia — including Shannon Oaks in Oak Bay — came to Oak Bay Council with a five story Oak Bay Lodge replacement, tentatively named Garry Oaks. The 320-bed facility would be a mixture of dementia care and long-term residential living, removing any independent living that currently exists at Oak Bay Lodge. Given that Shannon Oaks, Baptist Housing’s independent living facility just up the street, isn’t full yet, this isn’t shocking, but it is disappointing.

However, it appears that the threat of the land being sold has passed, as the land is being transferred from VIHA to the Capital Regional Health District, owners of the existing land at RJH and VGH. It isn’t clear yet what will happen with the Mount Tolmie land and buildings, as this is a linked development, designed to replace both Oak Bay Lodge, Mount Tolmie and the Bapist Housing-owned Mount Edwards Court.

Happily for the any future residents, the new facility will keep full on-site food preparation and laundry. Patrick Cotter, the architect, had this to say on the topic of food:

The new building will have a full central kitchen on-site that will provide lunch and dinner service, this will be augmented with a complete kitchen in each of the 16 resident houses that will provide food preparation for individual breakfast service throughout the morning; will provide individual service of lunch and dinner within the resident houses; and snacks and drinks throughout the remainder of the day.

The deal gets more complicated, however, when you consider yet another moving piece: Baptist Housing’s Mount View Heights, a contentious development on the old Mount View School Grounds on Carey Road. Cotter Architects is also designing the 260-bed facility there, which VIHA is somehow combining with the new Oak Bay Lodge/Garry Oaks development to trumpet their “increase in beds”

So much remains murky, including whether or not this building, in this size will get past Oak Bay Council. Cotter claimed that reducing it in size would reduce its effectiveness (ie: profit), as it is designed around 20-unit “neighbourhoods”. Stay tuned for more.