Events

It’s been two months since Aragon’s November 28, 2024 presentation to the Cordova Bay community about their proposed development of the 26-acre Trio lands at 755 Cordova Bay Road.

Since that meeting, CBACA has met with Aragon representatives, Saanich planning staff, Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock and MLA Lana Popham to gain a better understanding of the rezoning and development application process, including opportunities for community input and
possible timelines for review/approval. During these meetings, CBACA has expressed concerns that have been communicated by residents.

This update on where the proposed development stands now and a general timeline of the process is part of CBACA’s commitment to keeping our members up to date on important projects and issues that affect our community.

Background

Aragon is proposing a comprehensive housing development on the former Trio lands at 755 Cordova Bay Road. Their November 2024 community information session provided an overview of their proposal prior to submitting a final rezoning and development application to the District of Saanich. Aragon’s first application is to rezone the entire 26-acre site for a proposed comprehensive, master-planned development expected to roll out in 4 phases over the next 20 years or more.

Aragon will be seeking approval for this master plan which includes the maximum densities, building types and heights permitted for the site, as well as road, park and trail layouts detailed on the overall plan. If Saanich Council approves this rezoning and development application, Aragon will not have to seek additional approvals for each subsequent phase of the multi-year development, unless they want to make any changes to what has already been approved through this first rezoning application. Any changes proposed by the developer to the originally approved application would open up the rezoning process (including public input) again.

In November, Aragon indicated they expected to submit the application to Saanich by mid-December 2024.

Current Status

To date, Aragon has not yet submitted their application to Saanich. Aragon is still fine-tuning their development plan, but have stated they expect to submit the application to Saanich in Spring 2025.

Next Steps

Once submitted, the details of Aragon’s rezoning and development application, including relevant studies such as traffic or seismic studies, will be available for public review. You will be able to access it on Saanich’s Permit and Development Tracker; you can subscribe for automatic updates by setting up a My Saanich account

The submitted application will be circulated to and reviewed by all pertinent Saanich municipal departments, such as planning, engineering, parks, transportation, fire, etc. This municipal review process could take 4 to 6 months, during which Saanich will send any questions or issues back to Aragon to be addressed. Once Saanich staff are satisfied these have been resolved from their perspective, Saanich staff will prepare a full report and a date will be set for the application and report to go before Council.

Based on Aragon’s estimated Spring 2025 submission, it may be Fall 2025 before the application is presented to the Mayor and Council for their consideration.

CBACA and Community Input

Once Aragon submits the rezoning and development application, CBACA will provide a response to Aragon and Saanich that reflects broad community interests and concerns.

Our goal is to get this response to Saanich, and share it with our MLA and relevant provincial agencies such as the Ministry of Highways and BC Transit, early in the application review process to maximize the effectiveness of our input with Saanich staff, the provincial government and, ultimately, the Mayor and Council.

Resident Input

Residents, organizations and community groups can also submit input into the rezoning and development application process by contacting the Saanich Planning Department (attention: Andrea Pickard, the Saanich Planner responsible for this file) and of course Saanich Mayor and Council.