DocumentsCorrespondenceJun 29, 2020Pages 10–15
RE: Proposed Bylaw No. 1883 for 26278 Sooke Road (Z19-0023)
A dated letter (June 29, 2020) from Alderglen Place residents responding to the Notice of Public Hearing regarding Proposed Bylaw No. 1883 for 2627/26278 Sooke Road (Z19-0023), outlining similar concerns about parking, traffic, neighbourhood character and property values; includes scanned signature pages.
Key facts
- Date: June 29, 2020
- References Proposed Bylaw No. 1883 and Zoning file Z19-0023 for Sooke Road property
- Primary concern: access/exit from proposed apartments onto Southglen Drive and insufficient existing infrastructure
- Statement that proposed change will negatively affect home values and increase traffic/parking congestion; asks the City and developer to find an alternative access
Letter — June 29, 2020 (Alderglen Place, Victoria, BC)
June 29, 2020
Alderglen Place
Victoria, BC
To whom it may concern,
RE: Proposed Bylaw No. 1883 for 26278 Sooke Road (Z19-0023)
In response to the Notice of Public Hearing, for the above property and bylaw amendments, as residents of the Alderglen Place and surrounding community for three years, we are writing to express our concerns with this application and proposed bylaw changes.
Our main concerns are related to the parking exit from the proposed apartments onto Southglen Drive.
Currently, the ‘no exit’ road from Ernhill Drive onto Southglen Drive and ending at Alderglen Place has no infrastructure in place to support this change. There are many families with young children who live in this area. These families are often seen riding bikes or scooters, playing basketball or football, and playing in the cul-de-sac and the nearby park. Opening up Southglen Drive for access to the proposed C9 complex will substantially increase the flow of traffic through the already poorly lit and unsafe roads.
In poor winter conditions, like we have seen the past few years, the Ernhill Drive hill is difficult to drive up or down and would be considerably unsafe with increased use.
Approval of an access point to this proposed development from Southglen Drive will not only lead to increased traffic flow, but also an increase to parking congestion. Most families in this community own more than one vehicle and one or two recreational vehicles. There is already limited street parking spaces available. The requested bylaw amendment, to decrease the number of parking stalls per unit from 2.25 to 1.25, is an unrealistic option that will leave apartment residents parking on surrounding streets and contributing further to congested streets in the surrounding area.
We purchased our home in this area because we were attracted to the quiet and peaceful community. Passing this bylaw change will negatively affect the value of our home and others in our community due to the associated increased traffic and parking congestion.
Although we fully support the growth of the city of Langford and understand the need for affordable housing, we are strongly against the proposed, new building having an access through Southglen Drive.
We request that the city of Langford and the developer of the proposed C9 zone work toward another option that would leave Ernhill Drive, Southglen Drive and Alderglen Place with the same, safe and peaceful community-vibe that we fell in love with years ago.
Thank you for your consideration,
[Signature block / name area]
Letter — Received June 29, 2020 (Southglen Drive resident)
Southglen Drive
Victoria, B.C.
June 29 2020
To Whom It May Concern Re Rezoning Bylaw Amendment for 2627 Sooke Road (Z19-0023)
I have lived at [redacted] Southglen Drive for [redacted] years. This is a nice residential area with a mixture of families including some seniors with walkers and at least 2 families with children with special needs.
Over the years I have seen many changes in my neighbourhood. Mostly in increased housing therefore causing increased traffic. First was the 5 plex, then the townhouses, and the not yet completed 9 houses being built by Dave Horner with access to all coming off Ernhill Drive.
With further construction of a 90 suite apartment block with access from Ernhil to Southglen Drive the increased traffic will double or more. This neighbourhood was not built for this amount of traffic. Furthermore at 2627 Sooke Road there is only 115 parking spaces available. That inadequate parking will ensure tenants and their visitors will be parking on Alderglen, Southglen, and Ernhill Road which could result in us taxpayers not having room for our family and friends to park. These streets can at times already be congested and people have to navigate large ditches.
I do not understand why there cannot be access to this building elsewhere. I am strongly opposed to this and am asking city council to deny this proposal and anticipate your cooperation addressing these concerns.
[Redacted signature block]
Email / Submission — Monday, June 29, 2020 (Emily Garry)
From: [redacted]
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2020 6:57 AM
To: Robert Dykstra
Cc: Langford Planning General Mailbox; [redacted]
Subject: Proposed Bylaw No. 1883 - 2627 Sooke Road
Dear Mr. Robert Dykstra,
I would like to state on record that I am opposed to the rezoning of the property at 2627 Sooke Road. I am further opposed to the amendment of Bylaw no. 300 to Bylaw 1883 which would allow the developer of this property to build a 90 unit condominium with access from Southglen Drive.
For reference I have lived in Langford since I was 2 years old starting in [redacted]. The only absence from living in my hometown was a [redacted] years stint in Europe. I now live at [redacted] Alderglen Place which will be substantially affected by the proposed access that council is debating. Having grown up in Langford throughout the years I have experienced the days when Langford was family focused and having games of hockey on the street or riding your bike down the street was a daily occurrence, as it is for many families today. I am hopeful that proposed Bylaw 1883 moves forward where this large condo block has access to Southglen Drive that kind of experience growing up will no longer be something that young families will enjoy.
Langford pushes the image of being family friendly and yet these mature neighbourhoods where young families have enjoyed the type of freedom and safety we all appreciated would be preferable if this condo complex was accessed from Sooke Road only. Allowing the neighbourhood behind this new development to remain a place people can raise families.
I fully understand the Langford municipality has a continuous goal of creating more options for people to live but why does that have to be at the expense of the taxpayers and families who have lived in these mature neighbourhoods for decades?
I request that council reviews this matter from the point of view of the people who have lived in Langford for years, have supported the local economy for years, and have raised their families in these neighbourhoods to other greater Victoria residents. I mentioned in the paragraph about myself that I lived in Europe. I chose to come back to Langford because it felt like a quieter, less cramped, over populated life that is a hallmark of European cities and suburban areas so I could raise a family with the experiences such as I had. I chose to purchase a home here in Langford for this specifically to encourage the kind of freedom growing up in this city once offered. It feels like the goal of Langford city council is the march of progress and those of us who are focusing on the people that helped make this happen over the past 15 to 20 years.
I graduated from Belmont in [redacted] and with many options to live around the world chose to come back to what Langford has to offer. Please review this proposed rezoning with the knowledge that this is important over the long term to this city. This is likely just one neighbourhood with no pulling power to make you consider this request seriously and most likely do not reflect a shift in the community. However I am still one of the people who has tried to make this city a better place and not being able to have safety on the roads outside of my home, solely for the convenience of developers would be a travesty.
Back in January when [redacted] attended the pre-hearing on this proposed zoning change and their attempts to state Southglen was always planned to continue into what is now Jacklin Road likely from 30-40 years ago when it was expected to be large lot family dwellings occupying that land. Turning this development now into condominiums ruins this long-standing expectation. The building will be too high and the amount of traffic will be much more than the “survey” they paid for suggests. Many units will have more than one car. I know your argument being transit and jobs are close BUT many people in this neighbourhood do end up owning multiple vehicles and will drive because not everyone wants to work for the businesses in Belmont Park (fast food or grocery stores).
The city of Langford I know does have a vision for Sooke road and understand this would mean you are one step closer to achieving this vision but again the residents of Alderglen will be severely effected giving them access to Southglen. The infrastructure is already weighed with all the development in this area. With insufficient road staging and lighting there are so many condos being built within a five minute walk and the roads in and out of Langford aren’t changing enough to cope. Not only does this burden on the local roads (and parents driving to Happy Valley School) but our kids won’t be able to play on Southglen or Alderglen streets any longer due to extreme increase in cars using the road and other non residents using that route as a short cut. We will loose the community we cherish and our house values will evidently suffer from these changes.
I am open to further questions or inquiries to this message in protest of the proposed Bylaw no. 1883 and the access to this property from Southglen Drive.
Thank you for your time.
[Redacted signature block]
Request for submission during the Public Hearing — Monday, 29 June 2020 at 5:30pm
To: Robert Dykstra
Planning Department
City of Langford
Sent by E-mail: rdykstra@langford.ca
Copy to Suzette Chapman, Planning Assistant
Sent by e-mail: planning@langford.ca
Request for submission during the Public Hearing, Monday, 29 June 2020 at 5:30pm.
RE: Proposal to amend Langford Zoning Bylaw 300 by means of proposed Bylaw No. 1883. File Z19-0023
The purpose of the bylaw is to rezone 2627 Sooke Road from R2 (one and two-family residential) Zone to the C9 (Community Town Centre Pedestrian 9) Zone that includes a request for increased density on this site to permit a 90-unit apartment building with one commercial unit along Sooke Road.
In the materials provided to date, there is no traffic study / report regarding the impact to Southglen Drive, Ernhill Drive and Jacklin Road should this development be approved to proceed.
As a resident on Ernhill Drive for the past [redacted] years, I can provide first-hand knowledge of the increase of traffic flow over the past several years as a result of the completion of the multi-unit housing development at the end of Ernhill Drive. We have seen a fair increase in vehicle traffic as a result from these residents. Ernhill Drive was never designed for potential as a thorough-street but rather a dead-end street to service a small residential neighbourhood. There are no sidewalks for pedestrians — we all use the road for walking, biking, kids on their skateboards. The Southglen/Ernhill neighbourhood has only one way in and out to Jacklin Road. In addition, Ernhill Drive has a steep grade at the top off Jacklin Road with two sharp bends in the road. The last bend in the road creates a blind spot for vehicles travelling down the street. Regardless of the posted speed limit, drivers tend to approach this bend at an excess speed requiring quick action to brake for residents pulling out their driveway — creating a safety hazard.
The developer is requesting approval to build a 90-unit apartment building with a grade level commercial unit that only allows the access and egress directly off Southglen /Ernhill Drive and Jacklin Road except for minor right hand turns on and off onto Sooke Road.
[End of Page 1]
Even with the reduced parking variance being requested, it would result in approximately 150 parking stalls on site. That would equate to approximately 150 vehicles requiring access to this site on a daily basis to go to work and back and to go shopping, etc. In addition, there would be service vehicles, delivery vans, recycling and garbage pick ups that would be required. Also visitors to the residents and the commercial business. This back and forth traffic will result in approximately 300 vehicles needing to use Ernhill Drive / Southglen Drive on a daily basis. The additional traffic allowing this new access for this 90-unit development would change the very nature of the street and raise safety concerns for the current residents.
This Bylaw change would severely impact our neighbourhood by bringing an unacceptable level of traffic on our only street. This would contribute to decreasing the value of each of the residents’ properties.
Although the report mentions the re-development of other multi-family and mixed-use buildings similar to this proposal in nearby surroundings, such as the Happy Valley/Sooke Road development; it is important to note that the difference is that the access for that development for traffic on and off the site does not go through a one-way residential crescent like this proposal.
This has always been a neighbourhood of well established and maintained homes and not a neighbourhood in transition.
We are opposed to the application to rezone 2627 Sooke Road from One-and-Two Family Residential (R2) to Community Town Centre Pedestrian 9 (C9) that would allow a 90-unit Apartment Building with one Commercial Unit along Sooke Road.
Respectfully submitted by,
[Redacted name]
Homeowners of [redacted] Ernhill Drive
[Redacted signature block]
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