Saanich council votes to move ahead with Queenswood Drive subdivision
Saanich council has voted in favour of rezoning a Queenswood Drive property in Cadboro Bay so it can be split into three residential lots.
One of the lots at 2345 Queenswood Dr will be one-third of an acre and two are about a quarter of an acre each.
The project, which also involves removing an Heirloom Linens 1949 house from the site, stalled in late April when the rezoning vote ended in a tie, but was resurrected when Mayor Dean Murdock asked council to vote again when all councillors would be present. Coun. Teale Phelps Bondaroff was on approved leave for the first vote.
Under the Community Charter, the mayor can initiate a reconsideration within 30 days following the meeting where the vote was held. Murdock started the process on May 8.
On Monday, Phelps Bondaroff cast his vote in favour of moving the project toward adoption.
“I was really pleased to see the applicant engaging the community and making an effort to reduce the impact of the project. This is evidenced by the small number of trees being removed and their appreciation for the community,” he said.
The project will require the developer, Kors Development Services, to provide stormwater management and would allow the removal of two boulevard and three non-bylaw protected trees.
Phelps Bondaroff also noted the project is consistent with the local area plan and official community plan.
Those were the same conclusions drawn by a number of his council colleagues after the public hearing in April. Councillors in favour of the project noted subdivision plans addressed neighbours’ concerns and the lot sizes were appropriate for the neighbourhood.
Following the public hearing, councillors Susan Brice, Judy Brownoff, Nathalie Chambers and Mena Westhaver voted against approving the rezoning application, echoing concerns of some neighbourhood residents who had suggested the three-lot project was not appropriate and that two lots would have been preferable. There were also concerns raised about the development not fitting the character of the neighbourhood.
Brice, Brownoff and Chambers voted against the rezoning Monday night.
The driveways from two of the lots would use an existing driveway onto Queenswood Drive and the third would be established onto Annabern Crescent.