Oak Bay townhouse proposal perturbs some in the neighbourhood

A Victoria developer wants to update and move a 111-year-old mansion a few metres toward Oak Bay Ave., to make room for a complex consisting of 16 townhouses, with 24 total units in three buildings, and the idea is not sitting well with some of the neighbours.

Marking Developments owner Jennifer Travelbea said the large home, built in 1914 by renowned BC architect Samuel Maclure at 960 Foul Bay Rd., would be renovated to fit an additional eight strata units and that the project would help Oak Bay meet its provincial housing targets.

“You can't pick up a newspaper in this province without hearing how desperately we need housing, right?” Travelbea told Capital Daily.

In January, the provincial government appointed an adviser to Oak Bay when the municipality failed to meet its housing targets. It was required to oversee the construction of 58 units, but by Christmas, only 16 had been completed.

Travelbea said the new housing would be a mix of three- to four-bedroom units priced at market value, and that there would be internal parking for 34 vehicles.

“Our goal is for it to be attainable to families of all shapes and sizes, whether that be couples, individuals, retirees, families with one or two kids,” Travelbea said.

Not everyone is onside.

"This development is a massive money grab,” neighbour Alex Armitage said in a statement to Capital Daily.

“The proposal takes advantage of the community's need for more housing and ignores what makes our community unique, livable, and safe.”

Neighbourhood group has concerns

Armitage is part of a neighbours' group that contends the townhomes would be too tall, take up too much space, contribute to traffic and parking overflow, and pose significant safety concerns.

Armitage, whose home sits behind the property, told Capital Daily his kids sell lemonade on a portion of the pathway, which he said is often the scene of street hockey games. He says he can’t envision the expected influx of traffic and the required parking working without the distinct risk of someone getting hurt.

“The Travelbea development—with a density of 10-15 times the average density of Oak Bay—completely disregards the safety of Brighton Greenway users in both Oak Bay and Victoria,” he said in an email to Capital Daily.

Travelbea said not all 60+ new residents would be driving—there is a bus stop nearby—and the project’s proximity to Oak Bay Avenue means many people wouldn’t need vehicles.

“This location actually has a Walk Score of 91, which is considered a walker's paradise, which means you can complete daily essentials on foot within just a few short minutes,” she told Capital Daily.

She also said a traffic impact assessment had confirmed that parking will be sufficient on the site.

But Armitage said he considers that old news—and old data.

“The development relies on a 2022 traffic study that doesn't take into account new and proposed neighbourhood developments,” he said.

Plans of project site at 960 Foul Bay. Courtesy Marking Developments.

Petition put online

Armitage speaks on behalf of Save Brighton Greenway, which lists safety, greenspace, and developer overreach among its chief concerns.

“While we welcome development on this lot, the size and character of the proposed development is a serious threat to the Brighton Greenway and sets a dangerous precedent [for] the entire greenway in Victoria and Oak Bay—as well as historic Foul Bay Road,” the group says on its website, which went live last Friday. The site contains a petition opposing the development as currently proposed. As of April 2, some 101 people had signed.

The group also said that if built as currently designed, the project would necessitate the chopping of dozens of trees, including Garry oaks, which would nullify tree cover, reduce resident privacy, and endanger such inhabiting wildlife as owls and Cooper’s hawks.

“The owls in the Garry oaks keep us up at night, and we love it,” Armitage told Capital Daily. Now it’s the development proposal that has him lying awake.

“The Travelbea proposal sets a terrible precedent for the Brighton Greenway and other greenways in the CRD,” he said in an email.

East view of project site at 960 Foul Bay. Rendering courtesy Marking Developments.

Popular pathway for people ‍

The much-travelled pathway snakes through the neighbourhood situated on the Oak Bay-Victoria border—which intersects several properties, meaning some households are technically in both Oak Bay and Victoria—and is a scenic east-west walkway that makes up part of the seven-kilometre Centennial Trail.

In a 40-minute period on a weekday morning this week, Capital Daily observed a dozen children, adults, and seniors using the path in various forms of transportation, including walking and running, cycling, and skateboarding.

A proposed pathway roughly a dozen metres long that would be built along Brighton Ave., theoretically would help keep pedestrians safe, but Armitage said the current design brings it to an abrupt end, which would force pedestrians onto the Brighton asphalt, in the way of traffic.

Asphalt—or too much of it—is another concern, Armitage told Capital Daily. The felling of trees (possibly as many as 27, Travelbea said) would make for a thinner canopy and increased temperatures as the sun beats down on black asphalt.

The developer says every means necessary will be used to preserve nature, 61% of the property would not be covered by new buildings, and that new trees will be planted.

Northeast view of project site at 960 Foul Bay. Rendering courtesy Marking Developments.

What's next

Parking Developments would need the Oak Bay council to pass amendments to its Official City Plan (OCP), and Travelbea said she hopes she can present her proposal in the coming weeks.

"Oak Bay is going through a refresh of their OCP this spring, so an OCP amendment is very common practice throughout the region and as a mechanism of getting multi-family homes built, because typically in cities like Victoria, we don't automatically have that sort of medium density designation already,” she said.

A community open house has been scheduled for April 15, from 6pm to 8pm at the Oak Bay United Church.

This is not the first time the tract of land has been the subject of development.