A tale of three ports

James Bay Neighbourhood Association

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

James Bay residents attending the October 2012 meeting of the James Bay Neighbourhood Association (JBNA) approved a varied agenda of reports and proposals.

All-Candidate Forum

A by-election to elect the next Member of Parliament to represent Victoria has been called for November 26th.  James Bay Residents are invited to attend the all-candidate forum, hosted by JBNA at New Horizons, on Wednesday, November 7^th.

Come, meet the candidates, and learn about their positions on matters that affect Victoria.

There will be a meet and greet, followed by a forum.

Cruise-Ship Impact: a Tale of 3 Ports

Brian Scarfe presented a brief overview of the impact of cruise-ships on Charleston, South Carolina and on Venice, Italy, comparing the situation in those port cities to Victoria.

In Charleston, which has recently become the home-port for one ship, neighbourhoods are taking legal steps to limit expansion of the industry in their community.  They are seeking to block a contemplated new terminal which, neighbours fear, will further entrench the cruise-ships in the community.  In Charleston, the winds are predominantly off-shore, while in Victoria they tend to be on-shore.

In Venice, 300 to 500 massive ships per year dominate the views and the waterways.  Wave action and underwater vibrations are having an extremely detrimental effect.  UNESCO, which maintains the World Heritage List (962 properties worldwide considered as having outstanding universal cultural and natural heritage value) has urged the Italian government to quickly develop alternative plans for maritime traffic around the World Heritage site of Venice.  Venice is particularly vulnerable because of the fragile structure of the city and the Lagoon.  The ships cause tidal action that erodes historic building foundations and the canal infrastructure.  They polute ecologically important areas and impact the cityscape, as they dwarf monuments in the heart of the city.

Development proposal

Architect Alan Lowe presented a development proposal for 90-92 Dallas.  The proposal would see the existing legal duplex demolished and replaced with a new duplex.  Rezoning is required because the site area is less than the minimum required in the R2 zone.  The severe disrepair of the existing duplex makes heritage restoration unfeasible.  The loss of another heritage structure in James Bay, especially in such a prominent location, close to the cruise ship terminal, is regretable.  Existing trees on the site will be saved.

Parking variance

Architect Ray Hunt presented Concert Properties' plans for the Queen Victoria Hotel at 655 Douglas Street.  The new owners plan to convert the hotel into apartments with 125 bachelor suites, 14 one-bedroom suites and 7 two-bedroom suites.  Because the site is fully developed, very little change is anticipated to the exterior of the building.  The requested variance would permit reduced parking.  A parking study revealed that the site could only accommodate 68 parking stalls, not the 0.7 stalls per unit (80 stalls) required by bylaw.  The downtown location, close to businesses, public transportation, the park, waterfront, etc suggest that less parking is required.  Parking under the variance application will accommodate 60 tenant vehicles, some visitor parking, 2 car-share vehicles, and secure storage for 146 bicycles.  Car share membership will be available for each tenant.  Other paid parking, such as St Ann's Academy, is nearby.  

Parks & Boulevards:

Fisherman's Wharf Park: 

A revitalized Fisherman's Wharf Park opened on October 2^nd.  Work will continue, with additional planting scheduled in the weeks ahead. 

A request by the JBNA Board that Council name the park's rain-garden  "Van Alstine Rain-Garden", in recognition of Tim Van Alstine's 20+ year contribution to the community and his advocacy for redevelopment of the park, is still under consideration.

Board members and residents are contributing information including maps & photos to Victoria Parks staff to assist in the creation of interpretive signs for the park.

Environment: 

Air Quality - UVic Spatial Sciences, VIHA, BC Ministry of the Environment, GVHA & JBNA:

In early August 2012, following implementation of the international Emissions Control Area (ECA), sulphur dioxide levels at Erie Street monitoring site decreased.  In succeeding months levels have reached up to 50 ppb - with the monitoring site sometimes receiving only 'the shoulder of the plume' - meaning that residents east of Ogden Point would have experienced significantly higher levels.  JBNA continues to advocate more monitoring stations funded by the industry and GVHA.  Summaries of air quality information gathered at the Erie St sulphur dioxide (SO2) monitoring site will be presented at the November meeting.

Victoria Harbour Airport:  James Bay resident, Capt Jack Bragg, has submitted "Report and Request to the Mayor and City Council on the matter of Residential Safety adjacent to the Easterly Takeoff, Approach, and Landing Area at the Victoria Harbour Water Airport".  JBNA Board wrote a letter supporting this report, expanding upon concerns and identifying the need to resolve the issues of the airport prior to any further decisions regarding rezoning of Fisherman's Wharf (current application includes residential float-homes) and further expansion of airport-related structures.

JBNA Transportation Group: 

Traffic data (vehicle count/speed data) received from City staff will be analyzed by JBNA to assess any change in traffic pattern over previous years.  The analysis will be presented at the November JBNA meeting.

GVHA Ogden Point MasterPlan:

Summaries of the marine/shipping and/or cruise-ship future possibilities for Ogden Point as presented by consultants at the GVHA public meeting on Thursday, August 16 have been prepared and will be presented at the November 14^th JBNA meeting.

Community Concerns

Director Robert Light gave a brief verbal report on the summer's production of Shakespeare by the Sea.  He reported that a total of 1017 people attended, that the performances enjoyed good reviews, and that the company received great community support.  One evening, 92 laughs were counted in one hour of performance. 

Thrifty Foods

Ralf Mundel, Director of Marketing and Communications presented the Thrifty Foods (TF) case for a 24/7 shopping operation in James Bay at the June 2012 JBNA general meeting.  He returned to the October 2012 meeting to report on the transition.  Management reports that the extended hours have been successfully implemented with no employee or customer complaints to date.  Apparently many customers have expressed appreciation of the new hours. 

City Council Considerations:

Public input may be facing further restrictions at City Hall.  A recent proposal suggests limiting residents' presentations at Public Hearings to 5 minutes (reduced from current 10 minutes) and to limit "Requests to address Council" statements to 3 minutes (reduced from the current 5 minutes).  There was no statement or explanation to indicate abuse of the current time limits.   The decision has been delayed, but residents interested in this issue should contact Mayor and Council soon, as the item will come forward in the next few weeks.

Coming Soon

- The JBNA Board is completing analysis of cruise-ship activities on our community.

Presentations for the upcoming meeting will focus on the 2012 cruise-ship season, including associated traffic impacts and sulphur dioxide emissions.  

- Projected Ogden Point activities will be discussed as cruise-ship growth predictions, and other possible industrial uses of Ogden Point, will be presented.

Any resident of James Bay is welcome to attend monthly meetings, either as observers or participants.  Participation in the meeting is welcome but not mandatory!

Join us from 7-9 pm, on Wednesday, November 14th, at 234 Menzies (New Horizons)