Council plans to re-engineer Central Saanich

If you haven’t already heard, the District has received recommendations from the consultant commissioned to produce design options for a new municipal hall complex. The District has announced that those options will be presented to the public on the following dates. We hope to see you there. June 12 – 4:00–7:00 – Central Saanich Cultural […]

At a meeting of Island mayors, councilors, first nations and other local governments (AVICC) in Nanaimo on April 13th, according to an article in the Nanaimo Bulletin (see link below), Mayor Windsor expressed frustration that the taxpayers of the District of Central Saanich are allowed to have a say in how their property taxes are […]

For the second time, the District of Central Saanich’s ill-conceived plans to expropriate privately owned land on Hovey Road faces another financial hurdle. In both cases, the challenges have been launched by the property’s previous owner, Park Place Seniors Living. In the first instance, Park Place successfully challenged the purchase price of $3.1 million that […]

In August, a resident of Central Saanich submitted an official Freedom of Information request to the District for a copy of the Kasian report which, according to staff, was the basis for deeming the current municipal building on Mount Newton Road inadequate. The District responded to the resident by sending him the 139 page report. […]

After repeatedly denying requests to view the secret Kasian report which, according to staff was the basis for deeming the current municipal building on Mount Newton Road inadequate, a formal Freedom of Information request for the report was sent to the District. A few weeks later an electronic reply from the District was received. By […]

To promote its plan of building a new municipal complex on secretly expropriated Hovey Road property, the District sponsored 3 public viewing events. At each viewing there was significant public opposition to the plan. Concerns included costs, road safety, traffic congestion and emergency vehicle proximity to the highly utilized Centennial Park play fields and a […]

Central Saanich councilors have refused to comment or discuss a secret report commissioned by the District that, according to them, was the basis of determining that the current municipal building on Mount Newton Road was inadequate and that a new multi-story municipal complex was needed. Supporting their silence, they cited provincial Community Charter legislation that […]

On April 12th, 2024, the District of Central Saanich announced that it had initiated expropriation procedures to acquire privately owned property on Hovey Road, adjacent to Centennial Park. Unlike typical expropriations in which government bodies take possession of land to make way for roads or other critical right-of-way infrastructure, the District decided it wanted the […]

The District hired Vancouver’s Kasian Architecture to undertake a facilities feasibility study in February 2023. The study’s terms of reference included the redevelopment of the District’s 1903 Mt. Newton property AND the construction of new municipal facilities at a then privately-own property on Hovey Road. The terms of reference for both properties includes 6 story […]

The Saanichton Village Design Guidelines report focuses ostensibly on the Saanichton triangle (bounded by Wallace Drive, East Saanich Road and Mt Newton X Road) and the land where the current municipal hall sits at 1903 Mt. Newton Road. Within the very narrow confines of the triangle, the design proposes high density housing, increased retail storefronts, […]

Council approves the implementation of an annual property tax levy that is to be used to fund the replacement of assets in the future. According to District documentation, the funds collected will be ‘set aside each year’, supposedly sitting in a reserves fund. Quietly, year after year, the revenue generated from the levy has been […]

The District retains Levelton Consulting to develop a facility asset management plan for 46 District owned buildings. Levelton submitted their report in June of 2015, concentrating on 11 buildings including those dealing with municipal government, emergency services, public works and community development. The report DOES NOT recommend replacement of the municipal hall. Rather, it recommends […]