JBNA Planning and Priorities

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

JBNA Board Priorities and Work Plans

JBNA Board member Tom Coyle discussed JBNA Priorities for City of Victoria Action, which identifies action in the areas of community planning, parks, streets and sidewalks, noise pollution and airshed emissions, and the impact of cruise tourism on James Bay.

A recently developed set of operating principles will ensure that the JBNA Board is accessible, inclusive, representative and accountable to the membership. These principles provide the basis for changes to JBNA policies, Committee terms of reference, and liaison between each Committee and the Board, ensuring accountability.

The Board also identified five internal priorities:

~ develop clarity on roles and responsibilities;

~ develop a cohesive voice to the community;

~ develop a strategy for relating to external bodies, and in particular City Council, GVHA, and other James Bay community organizations;

~ identify specific projects and bring them to completion; and

~ broaden and increase JBNA membership.

Traffic Noise Study

JBNA Board member Marg Gardiner presented an overview of the results of the traffic noise study undertaken by the Quality of Life and Environment Committee, with sound measurements supplied by Wakefield Acoustics Ltd.

The study measures noise and compares vehicular noise levels to other Wakefield studies, WHO Guidelines, City Bylaws and other community noise standards. Project results will inform James Bay residents and the City about noise levels in this predominantly residential area so that strategies can be developed to address the environmental, social, and health impacts and to create more sustainable and vibrant tourist mobility options. The JBNA initiated traffic noise study is one component of the Search for Alternate People Movement Strategies Initiative and builds upon the previous James Bay Air Quality Study.

Since 1990, annual cruise ship visits to Ogden Point have grown from 34 to over 200. Passenger numbers have increased from 24,000 to over 400,000. Increased cruise tourism has been accompanied by a marked increase in tourism-related transportation (buses, taxis, kabuki-cabs and horse drawn carriages), and in trucking activities servicing larger cruise ships. Aircraft are also a significant noise source for residents in parts of James Bay.

Measurements presented from the study indicate that residential areas near Ogden Point are exposed to noise levels at, or greater than, the highest levels of acceptable community noise, as benchmarked by the World Health Organization. Although the City of Victoria Noise Bylaw appears to address only specific noise events, the overall noise levels measured exceeded bylaw numbers for hours at a time. At the first of two sites, sound energy essentially doubled between cruise-ship days and non-cruise-ship days, while at the second site, sound energy increased by more than 50%. Increase in noise levels is largely due to the increased tour bus activities that are associated with cruise ship visits. 

One minute and five-second charts showed the variability in sound measurements over the course of 2 ½ days in mid-June. As anticipated, peak noise levels are generated by planes, helicopters and road vehicles. Noise generated by the loud-speakers in tourist vehicles was included as part of the overall noise volume, but not separately identified. 

While previous Wakefield studies suggest that noise levels are somewhat higher down-town on Blanshard Street, Blanshard Street is not, for the most part, a residential area. There, residences on upper floors may be buffered from street noise by commercial establishments on lower floors. This area would not experience the high noise events created by float planes and helicopters. Neighbourhoods without noise problems do not generally undertake noise studies, so comparative data between residential areas in Victoria were not sought.

Empirical studies done elsewhere indicate the negative effect of noise pollution on property values. Noise impact on property values may be affected by the notification of potential buyers before they purchase property.          

(Mayor Dean Fortin was present for a good part of the Noise Study presentation.)

Councillor's Report

Councillor Madoff reported on activities at City Hall:

~ the final decision on one of three proposed designs for the Johnson Street bridge replacement was to be made at a public meeting at City Hall on Thursday, September 24, at 5 p.m;

~ a 30-day trial of a free down-town shuttle bus service commenced on Friday, August 21, running from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.;

~ 2 hours free parking in city parkades between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturdays from September to December;

 ~ meter fairies add 15 minutes to expired meters on city streets;

~ First Fridays on Fort include discounts, promotions and perks each month;

~ A proposal to designate 151 Oswego Street as a heritage building was tabled by the Heritage Advisory Committee. 

~ Concerns about procedural issues and the lack of communication regarding a publicly funded community mural at Irving Park on private property will be referred to the Public Art Review Policy process. 

~ The Planning Department presentation on the Official Community Plan (OCP) has been postponed because of time-line and process revisions currently underway; a Citizens Advisory Committee for the OCP is to be created. 

Presentations

Planning

City Planner Kevin King introduced himself as an urban design specialist, new to the City Planning department. His current role involves detailed streetscape (or on-the-ground) plans and the assessment of development proposals, including those pertaining to James Bay. His assessment and recommendations, within the context of the existing neighbourhood plan, are forwarded to Council without filtering out neighbourhood input.

Other members of the Planning department are involved with the long-range planning process that needs to inform the re-creation of the Official Community Plan (OCP).  Neighbourhood plans will be revisited after the revised OCP is in place. 

Johnson Street Bridge

Ross Crockford presented the position of his organization that the Blue Bridge should be saved rather than replaced, that the process of moving towards replacement rather than repair has been both flawed and rushed, in part because of the timelines and strictures associated with the federal infrastructure grants program, and that residents of Victoria should be consulted much more widely on this project. His organization hosts a web-site, www.JohnsonStreetBridge.org. 

Time is of the essence as federal funding may only be available for the portion of the project completed by the end of March, 2011. The time frame for project completion is "aggressive".

Crockford's view is that Victorians have not been properly engaged on the 'repair or replace' question that Council resolved (to its satisfaction) last spring. Crockford's organization has made "freedom of information" requests that may clarify the decision to replace rather than repair the Blue Bridge.

Committee Reports

Parks Committee Report

Fisherman's Wharf Park

On August 27, City Council approved the Fisherman's Wharf Park Management Plan, concluding a nine-months planning process. Work has already begun and will continue through spring, 2010.

It is unclear if the Fisherman's Wharf Park Steering Committee will be involved in future decisions, since the formal public consultation process was terminated by city staff at the end of the planning stage.  The JBNA Parks Committee position is that public consultation should continue through every stage of the development.

Lewis Street Park

Upgrades, expected in September, will include three swings, new woodchip surfacing, a spinning play element, irrigation and renewed plantings.

Urban Forest

Consultants will present an updated draft of the Urban Forest Master Plan to senior staff in mid-September and to the final Steering Committee meeting in late September or early October.

Quality of Life and Environment Committee Report

Recent committee activities have focused on the analysis of the questionnaire responses from the James Bay quality of Life Survey, and the preparation of reports based upon this analysis, as well as the report on the Traffic Noise Study.

Secretary

Pieta Van Dyke has submitted her resignation as Secretary of JBNA, after years of contribution to the JBNA, and to the community at large. 

Treasurer (Marg Gardiner) will act as interim Secretary-Treasurer until another volunteer fills the position or until the Annual General Meeting in April 2010.

Next Month

JBNA Quality of Life Survey

The JBNA Quality of Life survey returns have been analysed.  The tremendous community response has provided a large, and valid, data base. Each return has been coded; 50,000 codes have been entered into a spreadsheet. Statistical analysis has been completed and interpreted, and report preparation is in progress.  

The statistical analysis looks at both the overall community results as well as results that are stratified by resident location, and by demographic characteristics such as respondent age and years lived in James Bay. In addition, the 750 written comments accompanying the questionnaire responses have been grouped by subject area and categorized for use in the reports.

An overview of the survey results will be presented at the JBNA October 14 meeting. JBNA meetings are open to all residents of James Bay who wish to attend. This is your opportunity to learn what others in the community think about the issues addressed within the survey, and to contribute to initiatives that could address the challenges facing many James Bay residents.

Come to hear much more, and comment upon what you hear:

7 p.m., October 14,

James Bay New Horizons, 234 Menzies St.