Stuart Stark, a homeowner in Saanich, a municipality in the Greater Victoria area, on Jan. 31.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
Residents in the district of Saanich on Vancouver Island are gearing up for a battle against density that they believe will overwhelm their lovely streets and undermine what makes their municipality a suburban oasis.
Saanich, next door to Victoria, is the largest municipality in the capital regional district and an important hub that connects the University of Victoria to downtown and the main highway to the ferries. There’s a new draft plan under way to bring 12- to 18-storey towers to major intersections and six-storey buildings to side streets, as well as ways to accommodate rapid transit. The idea is to grow the bedroom community as the population ages, bringing in younger households and much-needed multifamily housing.
It’s the standard story throughout urban centres across Canada – how to add necessary multifamily housing, which is more affordable than single-family housing, and without the sprawl. The challenge is adding that density to existing neighbourhoods, where long-time renters and homeowners have enjoyed low rents and high livability and who fear displacement and removal of the features that made the neighbourhood a success in the first place.
Towers are always a contentious building form outside of downtown areas, but Saanich councillor Karen Harper, who has sat on council for eight years, says the district is taking community concerns into consideration. The plan goes to council on Feb. 11 and is still in the discussion stage, she said. Vancouver approved a similar scheme, the Broadway Plan, to densify along the Broadway subway corridor and beyond. But the councillor says their Quadra McKenzie Plan doesn’t come close to that.
For example, there aren’t any plans for 18-storey towers next door to single-family houses, as in Vancouver. And there is a section of the Plan that says it would “transition down the scale of buildings in height and density” from the transit areas and corridor hubs.
“This is not the Broadway Plan,” said Ms. Harper, adding that the plan for greater density has been in the works for years, long before the province mandated minimum building heights around transit-oriented areas and changed zoning for single-family houses to multiplex houses. However, they’ve had to integrate the new provincial requirements as well.
“It’s always more challenging when you are developing a community that is already substantially developed, …. The emphasis over the last several decades has been single family for the most part, and that created a challenge.
“We asked [ourselves]: ‘How can we do it in a way that still makes you feel like you’re in Saanich, but allows options for younger people to rent,’ for example?”
“I’m a housing advocate, but we need to do it in a way that will work for our community.”
Ms. Harper said she can’t see building heights going higher than six storeys on streets with single-family houses – but that’s still a discussion that’s under way, she added. Council and staff will hear community feedback on Feb. 11, considering any concerns before finalizing the plan.
Opposition to the plan is considerable, with nearly 4,000 signatures on a petition called “Stop the Saanich Quadra McKenzie Plan.” Concerns involve the 12- and 18-storey building heights, an unsympathetic approach to density, and the loss of Garry Oak trees, a species native to the West Coast and considered endangered. Heritage consultant Stuart Stark lives on a tree-lined street a block over from Quadra and he said upcoming redevelopment of houses on his street threatens a Garry Oak forest next to him.
‘We understand that growth must occur and there are areas where the density could occur. We have no problem with that,” said Mr. Stark. “What we are really objecting to is density trammelling into residential areas that have other assets.”
Mr. Stark is opposed to a proposed large-scale redevelopment next door to his property which would see the destruction of older Garry Oak trees.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
Saanich resident Sasha Izard, who ran for council in 2022, is concerned about the involvement of the development community, which he and others believe has an undue influence in shaping policies around density. Mr. Izard cites a presentation from the Urban Development Institute to then-Housing Minister David Eby dated March 10, 2022. In the presentation, the non-profit organization, a lobby group for the development community, recommends enhanced densities around transit nodes, between 200 and 800 metres outward. The presentation also recommended the province set housing targets for municipalities, with rewards and punitive measures for those who don’t meet the goals.
In the fall of 2023, the province introduced the Housing Supply Act and set initial targets for 10 municipalities. It gives the province the right to act if those targets are not met by local governments. By the end of that year, the province passed Bill 47, which mandated minimum building heights up to 800 metres outward from transit nodes, such as bus exchanges and SkyTrain stations.
“The letter and presentation called for enforceable housing targets along rapid transit lines, with content pushing density around transit oriented areas that appear to be a precursor to Bill 47,” said Mr. Izard. “A carrot and stick approach was lobbied for, with various punishments suggested for municipalities that do not build fast enough along designated transit areas.”
Save Our Saanich member and avid cyclist Kevin Neary said 12-storey buildings at major intersections identified in the plan and three-storey heights elsewhere would “fit in well” and would maintain the area’s livability. As well, he has knocked on a lot of doors and discovered a lot of people aren’t aware of how the plan will impact their neighbourhood.
“The way I look at these larger developments, it’s almost like a dagger that’s stuck into the community, and once those are there you can see development spread out from there. … Frankly, I don’t want to live in Metrotown. I don’t want to live in downtown Toronto. … That’s not why I live in Saanich,” said Mr. Neary.
“I think having six-storey buildings inserted into our neighbourhoods is going to be very disruptive and change the character of neighbourhoods irreparably and harm some of the values that people have,” he said. “I’m not against densification, having condos or townhouses put in, infill houses, garden suites, secondary suites. That’s all good. Up to two- or three-storeys, I’m okay. But having a six-storey building appear next to me or across the street, aesthetically it isn’t going to be good. In terms of the wildlife in the area, it’s not going to be good. And I absolutely love natural daylight and it’s not going to be good.
“My house is worth a lot to me, and not just personally but also this is potentially a legacy for my kids and for my grandkids. So, if the value of the house deteriorates because you have a six-storey building across the road from you, I kind of feel like a developer’s hand is going into my pocket and taking money out and putting it into theirs. That’s just how it feels.”