It is time

James Bay Neighbourhood Association

An on-going feature on land use & planning - to alert, inform, and prompt community action - and to celebrate success!

The August 2013 meeting of the James Bay Neighbourhood Association (JBNA) took the form of a round table, with participants raising topics of concern within the community. Murray Miller of the Victoria City Planning Department attended in his capacity as the city planner responsible for James Bay. Miller was there at the invitation of the JBNA to learn about the concerns of James Bay residents. Councillor Chris Coleman also participated, providing important clarification on several issues.

Over the course of the evening discussions broadly covered the topics of land, sea, & air, and the responsibility for management of environmental issues that relate to land use on the peninsula of James Bay. Many of the discussions touched upon the harbour in some fashion. We discussed public consultation, preconceptions, public accountability, perceptions of bias, public green space, pedestrians, and conflict of interest as they may (or may not) relate to the harbour airport, to the Official Community Plan (OCP), to the Visioning Process for the Harbour, to Fisherman's Wharf, to Fisherman's Wharf Park, to Beacon Hill Park, to transportation policies (vehicles for hire, the impact of highway buses on city streets, and the issue of pedestrians versus bicycles, scooters and other motorized vehicles).

Victoria Harbour Airport:

Transport Canada has requested an expression of interest from the City of Victoria regarding discussions about future management of the Victoria Harbour Airport. The city has requested a 3-month extension on the response time and has submitted questions relating to costs, regulation and operational obligations - a very complex situation. Discussions regarding the airport do not include the heliport at Ogden Point.

The JBNA has serious concerns about a proposed transfer of management to a local authority and is suggesting that the City take this opportunity to make a detailed and comprehensive study of the entire harbour. Is the airport properly sited within Victoria Harbour? Have the challenges of overlapping runways and shipping lanes been properly considered? When the runways were moved from the outer harbour to the middle harbour in 1975, what consideration was given to public safety and quality of life for residential communities (Songhees and the Gorge)? When the aerodrome was changed to an airport in 2000 were the requirements of the aeronautics and marine legislation followed? What sort of safety analysis was done around the marine fuel dock?

How do these concerns fit within Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) guidelines? If and when disaster hits, who will be responsible? Local public health officials have expressed concern at the kerosene-like fuel properties and the long-term health effects of the volatile organic compounds in aircraft fuels. (The Vancouver Fraser Health Authority has recently expressed concern regarding lead emissions from these fuels).

Operational costs for airports are routinely supported by users through fees and tariffs. Currently the Victoria Harbour Airport is subsidized by the Canadian taxpayer through the administrative overhead of Transport Canada. Whatever the outcome of the current process, an industry standard airport improvement fee should be levied towards social and environmental costs.

Harbours Review

What is your Vision of Victoria Harbour? The CRD survey is available on-line until mid-September. If you have not yet completed a survey, you may do so at:

http://www.crd.bc.ca/surveys/Survey.aspx?s=5791959e16d04f14b4a0804055ed4c52

Harbour Oversight

While Victoria likes to promote the picturesque harbour as a 'jewel', it lacks sparkle, unless one likes the glitter of parked cars in the sun.

It is time for Victoria to take ownership of existing problems and to take responsibility for harbour planning in a positive way through the Official Community Plan. We deserve a pedestrian-friendly public space around the harbour that has more than a pathway through it. A co-operative approach with the Provincial Capital Commission (PCC) would allow sensitive development of a viable public realm around the harbour. Mitigation of fuel emission and noise impacts should both be planning priorities. 

The Chair of the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) recently confirmed that the GVHA 'want control of the harbour.' Major owners of harbour-adjacent properties (besides the GVHA) are Transport Canada, Fisheries & Oceans Canada, the Department of National Defence, the City of Victoria, the BC Provincial Capital Commission (PCC), the Province of British Columbia, and private interests.

Popular opinion is that the public assets and the public realm surrounding the harbour should be operated by an organization that is accountable to Victoria residents - as all levels of government are through the election process - rather than an organization that is accountable only to its members. Perhaps we should consider the False Creek example of multiple independent societies that manage their own properties on False Creek's shores with the City of Vancouver managing the public realm areas, parks and walkways, rather than place all of our harbour 'eggs' in one basket.

Ongoing Environmental

It is no longer appropriate for one community to suffer the social and environmental costs emanating from the benefits enjoyed by others in the region. This summer, as the winds shifted from the early season easterlies to the mid-summer westerly's, residents east of Ogden Point have experienced elevated levels of sulphur dioxide. We have been assured of lower emissions in 2015 when new standards come into effect, assuming that implementation occurs as planned and is not thwarted by legal challenges. It is time for socially responsible management of the cruise industry.

Good News:

Last week, the first telecoil hearing loop in our neighbourhood was installed at the sit-down counter of the James Bay Thrifty Foods Pharmacy. People who wear hearing aids have difficulty hearing conversation in public areas because of background echoes: loops solve that problem. If other businesses follow Thrifty's progressive example, James Bay could become the most accessible community in Victoria for people with hearing loss. The system was discussed at the August 2013 JBNA meeting and will be available at future meetings. 

Join Us in September

The JBNA meets on the 2^nd Wednesday each month from 7 to 9 p.m., at James Bay New Horizons, 234 Menzies Street in James Bay.

The guest speaker at the September 11^th meeting will be Victoria Fire Chief Jeff Lambert. Angela Williams from the RBCM will discuss a proposed change to the museum's liquor license. Seamus McGrath will present information on the route for the September 22^nd Tour de Victoria, the 140 km cycle event which circles the Saanich Penninsula and Metchosin, starting and finishing at the BC Legislature in James Bay.