District of Sooke council, at the regular meeting on August 12 dealt with the following items on the agenda:
• Bylaw No. 576, council gave the Approving Officer full exemption powers under section 944(1) of the Local Government Act. Bylaw 546, Delegation of Exemption from Minimum Frontage Requirement Bylaw, 2012, was amended. A parcel can be exempted from the statutory minimum frontage providing the minimum frontage is not reduced by more than 10 per cent of the amount stated in the bylaw.
• Council gave first and second reading to Bylaw No. 579, Zoning Amendment Bylaw and a Public Hearing will be scheduled. The purpose of the application is to rezone the property at 2078 Kennedy Street from Large Lot Residential to Small Lot Residential to further subdivide the 0.25-acre property. The proponent wants to create two lots.
• Tsunami signs may once again grace the low lying areas around Sooke.
Even though it has been 500 years since the last major earthquake struck this region, the risk is said to be about 10 per cent that a major earthquake will occur within our lifetimes.
This replacement of the signs comes from a Capital Regional District study of the tsunami risk to all areas of the CRD.
The district had such signs in place during the reign of the last council and opted to remove them because homeowners felt they reduced property values as well as made tourists nervous.
The CRD is recommending the signs be placed four metres above the high tide mark thereby establishing a safe zone above the low lying waterfront.
Areas identified as needing such signs are: Whiffin Spit Park, low lying areas along Whiffin Spit Road and West Coast Road from Sea Lion Way to the public boat launch, Ella Beach, the old Butler log sort along West Coast Road, Billings Spit, low lying areas along Belvista Road, the Sooke Community Association Park along the Sooke River, Coopers Cove, Goodridge Road and the waterfront along Silver Spray.
The district will be responsible for the cost, placement and posts for the 15 to 20 signs throughout the district.
Fire Chief Sorensen will look into the costs and a public input meeting will be scheduled.
As to the last set of signs, Councillor Rick Kasper, who was on council at the time, said, “they went up and went down just as fast.”
