Defending the Urban Containment Boundary

Saanich sticks to urban-rural divide

By Bill Cleverley, Times Colonist - June 28, 2009

Saanich has a line drawn in the sand that's not to be crossed -- not even a little.

Saanich council unanimously turned down a request for a minor adjustment to the municipality's urban containment boundary that would have allowed three additional lots along the municipality's urban/rural fringe west of Helmcken Road.

The boundary keeps urban and rural areas separate to protect agricultural land.

Looking to rezone 2,433 square metres of a 10,086-square-metre parcel at 3989 Holland Ave. to create three new residential lots, Sushil and Gulwant Hira asked this week for a minor adjustment to the boundary, so one of the new lots they wanted to create wouldn't be half in and half out of the urban containment area.

The local Strawberry Vale Community Association was opposed to the application but district planning staff had recommended in favour.

At nine metres, it would have been the smallest boundary adjustment planning staff could recall. If the adjustment was approved, no building would have gone outside the boundary -- only the setback on one of the lots that would have panhandled behind the other two.

But Saanich council would have none of it.

Though the change was small, any movement of the boundary could set a precedent -- especially for three lots immediately adjacent to the property, said Coun. Dean Murdock.

"We could trigger a series of applications for each of those neighbouring properties, which then would be a very significant change to the urban containment boundary."

Murdock said any movement runs counter to what council has been trying to achieve in protecting agricultural land. "It's all rich agricultural land. The last thing we want to do is start removing it for urban densification."

Mayor Frank Leonard agreed. "[We have] a community plan that talks about ... keeping development within the urban containment boundary," he said. "I think the days of minor amendments are behind us."