Oak Bay United Church neighbours expendable

Re: “New residential development lifeline for Oak Bay church,” Dec. 28. The minister of Oak Bay United Church and her team obviously believe that the neighbours who will be directly affected by her redevelopment are expendable.

She states that any of us who are “lucky” enough to buy a home expect that our neighbourhood will not change.

What she did not explain is how the neighbours have tried to engage the church in acting responsibly and building something that would respect the neighbourhood in scale. She also did not explain how massive her proposal would be.

The church has only a little over an acre to build a proposed four- to five-storey building for up to 160 units with underground parking for only 97 stalls for both residents and the church. That is about 2.75 times the average household density of Oak Bay apartment buildings and 23 times the household density of the church’s neighbourhood.

No one other than someone with a vested interest in such a building could possibly conclude this respects the neighbourhood. She and her team are engaged in a slick public-relations campaign to garner support from anyone outside the neighbourhood to pressure Oak Bay council to allow the many variances needed for this massive project to proceed.

When is it Oak Bay’s responsibility to ensure the long-term financial viability of any religious order? That is what the minister and her team are asking Oak Bay when she explains that this massive build is required to enable the church to meet its financial obligations. Wayne Todd Oak Bay