Public Hearing - 351 Arnet Rd (DL114)
Posted: July 7, 2020
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING (Zoning Amendment)
Lot A, Plan VIP32751, District Lot 114, Clayoquot Land District, Except Plan 34040 34031 35014VIP53861 VIP56340 VIP57131 – 351 Arnet Road
Notice is hereby given that a Public Hearing pursuant to Section 464 of the Local Government Act will be held in the Community Hall, 351 Arnet Road, Tofino, B.C., on Monday,July 20th, 2020 at 6:30 PM to hear representations from members of the public who deem their interest in property affected by the following bylaw:
BYLAW No. 1279: “District of Tofino Zoning Amendment Bylaw No.1279, 2020” (amending Tofino Zoning Bylaw No. 770). The bylaw proposes to rezone the subject property from THC Low to Medium Multiple Family Residential District (CD-THC1) and Rural District (A2) to Affordable Residential 1 Comprehensive Development Zone (AR1). The proposed amendment would facilitate an affordable multi-family housing development on the subject property consisting of up to 72 apartment units, along with 3 duplex units with associated suites for a total of 84 dwelling units.
LEGAL ADDRESS: Lot A, Plan VIP32751, District Lot 114, Clayoquot Land District, Except Plan 34040 34031 35014 VIP53861 VIP56340 VIP57131
CIVIC ADDRESS: 351 Arnet Road
APPLICANT: Tofino Housing Corporation and Catalyst Community Developments
All persons who deem their interest in property affected by the proposed bylaw will be given an opportunity to be heard on matters contained in the bylaw. The application and further information may be inspected by appointment at the Tofino Municipal Office, 121 Third St., Tofino, B.C., during regular business hours (8:30 am - 4:00 pm) between July 10th, 2020 and July 20th, 2020 except weekends and statutory holidays. Information will also be available online at www.tofino.ca/development or by direct request to the contact information listed below.
Written submissions may be mailed to the District of Tofino, P.O. Box 9, Tofino, B.C., V0R 2Z0, or emailed to pthicke@tofino.ca. Please submit any comments or concerns you may have regarding this application before noon, July 20th, 2020. A public information session will be held prior to the hearing at 5:30 pm in the Community Hall, July 20th, 2020.
Please note that precautionary protocols for COVID-19 will be in place. If you are sick or have been sick within the last 14 days, or have come into contact with anyone who has been sick within that time period, or have left the country within that time period, please do not attend the meeting and submit a written statement instead. Masks are recommended.
For more information, please contact:
Peter Thicke
(T) 250.725.3229 ext 703
37 comments:
This is the last stages in the Whistlerization of Tofino. Welcome to the future. No ownership going forward, for working folks who want to build a life. Not Good. Public funded staff accom for the entry level place holders who work in the tourist trade. What kind of community have we become? A non community. Goodbye Tofino
im certainly against this farce called affordable housing in this place..might as well be called 'give a few million tax dollars to a couple of consultants' then phase 2 is 'create nothing but rental housing so one of the consultants can collect the rents' and phase 3 'tofino wakes up one day and realizes they been had for millions and our land'. brilliant.
5:36 PM You're right. The big-money guys win. And am sure Ecolodge will do fine
Why does this not pass the sniff test...just feels greasy...kind like WE for the Dot. Use the right word salad and the gullible will vote yes to anything labeled “Progressive”. As with everything follow the Money.
Much needed. I can't wait for to to be built. When was the last time anyone built ant rental housing in Tofino - Sin City? The developers/contractors are just as greedy as everyone else in Tofino.
5:49 Ok Josie
It is a sad excuse of a project that will end up doing no good for the community or those who want to find a place to live. Unless they are built to high, (expensive!) quality, they will rapidly degrade into a slum.
There is no such thing as low cost housing for you either pay to build expensive here or pay twice to repair what you did on the cheap.
Tofino’s climate is not forgiving of any cost savings in construction.
All you have to do if you doubt those comments is ask any condo owners in Tofino if they’ve had special assessments they have paid in order to repair construction failures and none of those were considered low cost housing.
There was once a shortage of housing, but mayor Josie spent a million dollars in a war with the owners of South Chesterman Beach Homes, and stopped all the short term rentals going on there, that were destroying the cultural fabric of the village. Now that all of those units have been returned to the residential market there's lots of housing available for everyone. The problem has been fixed, thanks to the foresight and wisdom of our glorious mayor.
So, I'm wondering, why build a brand new ghetto on DL114? I'm sure that the mayor has thought this through much more deeply than I'm capable of (after all, a degree in marine biology surely qualifies as expert background in the urban social housing industry), but I cannot imagine how such a project fits into anyone's vision of how we want our village to be developed. A couple of cheaply built project buildings, packed into a small area, filled with unemployed people who choose not to work and seasonal workers, and their dogs, who only want to surf and get ready to leave for Whistler in October. Not my idea of ideal neighbors.
Every vagrant and idler on Vancouver Island is already chomping at the bit, waiting to be first on the list for one of these government sponsored, taxpayer funded, low cost domiciles here in the paradise of Tofino, where they can surf, not work, live the good life, party hearty, and wait for this month's social assistance, welfare, or disability cheque to arrive. Meanwhile, our local seniors, workers, and hospital staff won't be able to live there, because the place will be a 24/7 zoo.
Tonquin Park and the Tonquin Trail system are doomed.
Arnet, Cedar, Leighton, and Peterson neighborhoods are doomed. Construction noise, congestion, traffic, crime, pilferage,
overcrowding... everything bad that comes with projects like this one, that's what the neighborhood will devolve to.
But the mayor supports it. She don't care, she's planning to be long gone, of to pursue her political ambitions elsewhere. The residents and taxpayers of Tofino will be stuck with her "legacy". Same as they got stuck with the bill for her "war on tourism" at South Chesterman's. (Which, by the way, produced exactly one unit in additional housing for the residents of Tofino)
5:49 PM: I'll suggest that you ask the wrong question. Instead, ask "When was the last time anyone in Tofino asked council for the right to build any rental housing?"
Then ask, "Why were they refused?"
Then ask, "What's different about Catalyst Community Development?"
Then ask, "Why can Catalyst get the support and financial backing of the District, supported by the mayor, when no other developer, for 15 years, could?"
Then ask, "Who's getting the money?"
Then ask, "Which resorts are hoping to have the project proceed, in order to supply them with staff housing? Who owns those resorts? Who owns Catalyst?"
...........The entire scheme stinks.
5:49 Is that your in depth analysis? How about, No applications have been approved. Hundreds of rental units offered up recently on former Hubner lands. No water for that! Hundreds of thousands to go to the DOT, No approval. Get your head out of.....you know.
Problem is you are as stupid as most voters and councilors in Tofino.
I agree with 4:11. Council and public are baffled by bullshit in a nice suit. They will be smiling right to the very end.
Good name for it could be Tonquin Slum.
It's about time this happens in this town!
It's about time the tourist industry paid it's way in this town. This is staff housing that we are to subsidize, at public expense and public resources.
If you object to this project, go to the public hearing and express you opposition. Other your comments mean nothing.
Mr Hackett is right. Everyone needs to show up and complain about this fiasco.
Apathy will get the town nowhere.
If everyone got together and discussed the little bits of the puzzle they each know, the total picture could be quite shocking and especially if brought forward as innocent questions at the public hearing.
If enough of those questions are asked perhaps there will not be a majority of council prepared to approve it.
To put things in perspective the district is going to give this land to catalyst to exploit to its heart's content meaning of course it will collect millions in rent. The value of the land that will be given to catalyst based on an average market value of $50,000 per door of multifamily use given that their plan is 85 units works out to $4,250,000. That's what the value of the land would be. We are gifting catalyst $4,250,000. Someone has to have some sense of perspective in this and throw these bums out. The next thing you know we will be paying for the cost of building. Time to stop this nonsense.
@7:34am.....the condos at South Chesterman are still being rented short term on sites like AirBnB and VRBO.
7:22PM That cannot possibly be true. The mayor spent over half a million dollars of the taxpayer's money to put a stop to this illegal short term rental practice. So it simply isn't possible. The mayor wouldn't waste the taxpayers money, or allow staff to waste it, or simply not be qualified to manage the economy of the town, would she?
She's led the charge to give away close to two million dollars of public funds to an assortment of dubious "affordable housing consultants", who now stand to reap a fortune in benefits for themselves. It seems most of this will be at the expense of the taxpayers and residents of Tofino, for decades to come!
Affordable housing Josie: Just like South Chesterman's, spend a fortune, get nothing in return.
But South Chesterman's is small potatoes. Nothing to see there, we've all seen every side of that fiasco.
We need to get back to the subjects of this post..... Catalyst, public money, affordable housing, The Tofino Housing Corporation, free public land, giveaway of taxpayer funded district services, secret meetings, possible illegal land transfers, creation of a 100 year ghetto...... this could become the biggest puddle that Tofino ever stepped in. This is serious stuff, that Tofino needs to be aware of, get to the truth of, and put a stop to. Now!
Compared to South Chesterman's, this is serious as a heart attack.
Surely the biggest waste of money is having a Bylaw department that doesn't enforce anything: illegal VRs, parking, noise, etc.
9:31 AM-- I don't agree with you. I do believe that you're correct, the bylaw budget is excessive and needs to be scaled back, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the enormous current and future costs that's being thrown away on this affordable housing debacle. The biggest waste of money that Tofino will ever see is coming up for discussion at the public hearing on the 20th.
At the Council meeting held July 14, 2020, Council directed staff to compose an Open Letter responding to written concerns regarding the need for, activities of, and financial model for the Tofino Housing Corporation.
Looks to me like council has directed staff to compose this open letter, supporting the application of the THC. This tells me that council has already decided to approve anything that THC puts in front of them.
Any input from the electorate will be ignored, and the application for re-zoning will be approved……probably unaminously.
The “public hearing” is a farce, the decision is already made.
Nothing that the taxpayers have to say will have any effect whatsoever.
has the nobility bothered to entertain an appraisal of DL 114 to give us an idea of how much of our money they intend to give away?
they may find that a referendum is required to give away that much of our money.
https://mailchi.mp/f9d861cf4efe/tofino-evaluating-options-for-waste-water-treatment-plant
note: the oval on the map showing the approximate location of the development of 85 units of apartments is a gross misrepresentation of the actual space evolved. It's like someone tossed a frisbee onto a half of a tennis court and said that's where it's going but in reality it's the whole half of the tennis court. Is this a deliberate attempt to fool us into thinking this is no big deal?
When it's actually a huge deal.
Public hearing is today! Bring your torch and pitchfork and express your opinion!!
I've received a report on the meeting held last night. I'm told that virtually everyone who spoke to council spoke to oppose the scheme put forward by THC and Catalyst. Yes, unanimous dissent among the taxpayers and residents in attendance. One lady spoke to her longing for some type of accomodation that her family could move into (same sad story that we've been hearing from our residents for years), and all of the rest of the submissions were against the proposed scheme.
I'd like to thank Ralph for beginning the ball rolling on this issue, on behalf of our fellow citizens. Without his digging out the truth and exposing the goings on at the Tofino Housing Corporation it's possible that the principals involved in putting this scheme into existence might have snuck it past the people without them even being aware that it was happening. Now, instead, the electorate has sent a clear message to council that we're sick and tired of being taken advantage of, and we the people are aware of what's happening and who's doing what to whom.
Now it rests with council to rule on the zoning application. Will they heed the will of the people they were elected to represent? Or will they need to be convinced in a courtroom to do the right thing?
Interesting times we live in. Is democracy still working?
I’d love to watch that public hearing on video but I am guessing that they did not want it recorded. But if it was, is there a link anywhere especially if it showed the disappointment on the faces of the proponents?
There is a huge liability risk to the district if it is passed and taxpayers will be way further ahead to fight in court than to suffer the taxation losses decades into the future.
Perhaps the District should rethink the Sharp Road project at the same time.
Perhaps the voters of the district should rethink their choice of mayor.
When is the next municipal election? How long do we have to organize candidates to replace the current mayor and council? Anyone have any good ideas how the community might manage to survive until the current administration can be replaced? Is this a conversation that anyone is interested in becoming involved in? Could the residents and taxpayers of Tofino withstand another 4 years of "leadership" from Josie?
How many people have to sign recall papers in order to call an early election?
There is no municipal recall .
The most recent Tofino election was held Oct 20, 2018. The next scheduled election will be in October, 2022, about 27 months from now. This means that some way must be found to bring the current administration under control until then. Ideas? The courts? An injunction? A public expose of the misadventures of the first two years of Josie's "rule of the kingdom"?
I've heard the comments at the public hearing completely dismissed by younger people as the carpings of a bunch of grumpy old people who have lived here too long and are just unhappy with change. As an older person I need to comment here that age has nothing to do with it but knowledge and experience does. While I don't dismiss younger people's opinions completely I would like to say that poking a computer all day does not give you the same knowledge and experience that, say, working in a fish plant or cutting survey lines in the bush does.
The data module seems to be exhilarating to younger people as they hold it aloft in triumph over knowledge and experience.
For example: do any of you know that the districts approvals for the current state of development in tofino puts the water system in the position of being overwhelmed sometime this summer? And does anybody know what happens if that occurs?
These are underlying health and safety quotients that no one wants to pay attention to because they have never dealt with the physical experience of no water. For the whole town.
This is one example of the difference between people who have lived here a long time and people that haven't. You can use all the data you like but you can drink it, flush the toilet with it, or wash dishes with it.
10:07 has said it well. The town WILL run out of water sometime in the future if development continues. The new 600 site campground on Cox Bay has ensured it will happen as we no longer have any unused or unclaimed water within the system. It is a bit ironic that the Cox Bay Campground should be the Redevelopment/reopening, note not new development that has kicked the water supply system into a precarious supply state. I don’t know all the details but when the district took over supplying water in the area, the campground was required to use the district water instead of the campground’s OWN water that was supplied by its OWN pipeline from Meares island. Oh and that pipeline had to be filled with cement to ensure it was not used. And now the district is looking for more water so development like affordable housing, (that’s a joke)can take place.
So along with the water problem there is the is the question of just how non profit the non profit developer of the proposed development really is.
Study history folks.
!!:25 Well your half right. The old old campground had it's own water supply. It was Ginnard creek. They now call it Imaaksis or whatever. Sorry for the Spelling The Clayoquot District had the License to take water from that creek. That license went to Tofino upon amalgamation. The old old campground had a piece of 3/4 inch poly strung all the way from Meares Island and no treatment. The new facilities provides a thousand times more water than the campgrounds old 3/4 poly, and treatment. Yes the campground was required to use Municipal water. The 3/4 poly was removed. but there was no loss of an unused source. A new larger submarine pipe was laid.
Of course that doesn't contradict the basic thesis that Tofino needs more water. The councils and staffs of the last ten years have not done enough. Use to be every councilor understood how the water system works and what was needed to be done. Not so anymore. Like the old saying "milk comes from the store", water apparently comes from the tap. I don't think they have a clue.
They have put off finishing the reservoir at Imaaksis for ten years. Dereliction of duty. Tofino bumbles from crisis to crisis Apparently the work is scheduled for Next year. It may bridge another five years of people showering at the beach for free, then it will be crisis again. Perhaps we need more conservation restrictions. How about only people in odd numbered addresses can drink on Thursdays, during August.
The history of Tofino and the history of water in Tofino are pretty much the same thing.
There are chapters still to be written, but we need the next chapter now, not in geological time.
This application is coming up for vote at the council meeting August 11th. It's not too late for you to write or email members of council and remind them that they were elected to represent the views and interests of the citizens of Tofino, and those citizens have overwhelmingly spoken out in opposition to this application. Remind them that this is NOT the type of housing that we want in our town. You can e-mail: anderson@tofino.ca chalmers@tofino.ca mcmaster@tofino.ca dlaw@tofino.ca stere@tofino.ca mcquade@tofino.ca and even osborne@tofino.ca (good luck with that one)
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