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Letter Submitted to Saanich Mayor and Council re Cordova Bay Local Area Plan and the Strategic OCP Update

Cordova Bay Neighbours, The CBACA has submitted a letter on April 27, 2024 to the Saanich Mayor and Council, with regards to the Cordova Bay Local Area Plan and the Strategic OCP update.

Mayor and Council
District of Saanich

Re: Cordova Bay LAP and the Strategic OCP update
We are writing to you today to express our concern regarding the severing of the November 2022
Cordova Bay Local Area Plan (with the exception of the village sub-area) as a bylaw from the
Strategic OCP update. The Cordova Bay Association of Community Affairs (CBACA) is
seeking a commitment from Saanich to maintain the complete Cordova Bay LAP as a bylaw
within the OCP and as importantly uphold all of the key plan directions, policy statements,
actions and priorities that are integrated throughout the plan

While there is an understandable focus on the need for more housing and hence the need to
update the OCP, the Cordova Bay LAP is so much more than a “housing plan.” It is a plan that
captures a longer-term vision of what we want our community to look like over the next 20-30
years. The vision describes the overall intention and seeks to communicate a sense of purpose
and serve as a guiding beacon for the community. It also considers the Official Community Plan
and reflects on broader Saanich wide goals and responsibilities. The plan was not developed in
isolation.

The LAP is intended to be used by Council, community members, staff, property developers and
other stakeholders to guide and evaluate potential change. This guidance extends to the
evaluation of development applications, capital projects, municipal programs such as parks and a
whole range of community initiatives.

The LAP is or should be a trusted bond between the community and Saanich council as we move
forward over time. It provides guidance to all concerned and more importantly, certainty for all
concerned. In the case of the Cordova Bay LAP ( as well as Cadboro Bay) this is particularly
true as this plan is only 2 years old. It is not out of date as maybe the case with other LAP’s in
Saanich.

When the Cordova Bay LAP was being approved by council in November 2022, it was held up
as a model plan that featured extensive community engagement and for the first-time
involvement by the local First Nations in a community plan. Many of its objectives, policies and
general planning approaches were also subsequently used in other Saanich planning initiatives.

After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of consultant and staff time, plus the hundreds
of hours of committed volunteer time in the community, we are at a loss as to why such as
successful (and fully supported) Cordova Bay LAP would be “downgraded” to a “non-binding”
status for all of those areas outside of the village.

As noted in the Cadboro Bay community’s April 10, 2024 response to this issue, “undermining
the LAP document’s value upon completion disrespects the heart and effort invested by the
community in their preparation.” Severing the village from the balance of the Cordova Bay
community breaks the trusted bond that we as a community had with Saanich.

We implore you to keep the entirety of the November 2022 Cordova Bay LAP and the other
recently approved Cadboro Bay LAP as bylaws within the updated OCP.

Cordova Bay is a whole community and severing the village as a “stand alone” bylaw zone from
the rest of the area in the plan compromises the vision for our community that we and many of
your staff worked so hard to achieve through the plan’s engagement and approval processes.

Sincerely,

Cordova Bay Association for Community Affairs Board of Directors
Barb Lucas, President
Gloria Wills, 1st Vice President
David Kuprowsky, 2nd Vice President
Eleanor Willing, Co-Chair, Planning
Michael Giordano, Co-Chair, Planning
Pat Bourke, Membership
Karen Fediuk, Treasurer
Brock Nordman, Public Relations and Advertising
Quinn Yu, Chair, Events
Dave Chater, Chair, Transportation & Parks

cc. Barry Andruschak, Chair, Cadboro Bay Residents’ Association
Lindsay Chase, Director of Planning
Cameron Scott, Manager of Community Planning

PO Box 41003 | 5166 Cordova Bay Road | Victoria, BC | V8Y 0A3
Website: https://cbaca.ca/ Email: president@cbaca.ca