June 2, 2010
Waterfront village plans unveiled
After more than two-and-a-half years the backhoes will soon be converting the old Quimper Motel site into a waterfront resort and marina.
Mike Barrie was in Sooke on May 27 to open the sales office for the multi-million dollar development on Sooke Road. Mariner’s Village, at full build-out will have 390 residential units, 135,000 square feet of commercial space and 159 boat slips.
Barrie said the first phase of the development will begin very quickly with 33 condo units and 16 town-houses. Commercial interests are lining up to get in on the action at the 12-acre site.
“The commercial part is where we will put our efforts in to go along with the residential,” said Barrie.
May 31, 2006
Explosive sought
The explosive ordnance team from CFB Esquimalt scoured the beach at Whiffin Spit on May 24, looking for an exploded marine location marker that had washed up on shore.
“It was fully expended but just didn’t sink like it’s supposed to,” said Clay Cochrane, operations officer with the fleet diving unit Pacific.
An alert civilian called into the base, and the crew of two spent about 90 minutes locating and disposing of the phosphorus cylinder.
Cochrane explained that while the devices are commonly used on the water to mark locations, it isn’t as common for the team to be called out to deal with the spent cannisters because they usually sink and pose no danger to the public.
May 30, 2001
Is Sooke’s rural identity eroding?
Like sand slipping through an hourglass, the agricultural land in and around Sooke is slipping away, leaving some farmers worried about the fate of an area long deemed to be rural.
Since its establishment 26 years ago, B.C.’s Agricultural Land Reserve has lost nearly 2,000 hectares of agricultural land from the Capital Regional District.
In Sooke, four ALR exclusion applications have come before the municipal council since incorporation in December 1999. A fifth is now pending.
The mayor of Sooke insists he and his council have no comprehensive plan to strip the municipality of its agricultural land, however, all four ALR exclusion applications have been endorsed by council.
May 29, 1996
Fishing regs snag Renfrew
Anglers may be forced to catch and release chinook salmon off Port Renfrew later this summer but that doesn’t mean tourists won’t be biting, according to one bed and breakfast operator.
“I don’t think it will be a big problem,” said Arbutus Lodge’s Will Earnshaw of the new regulations. “It will cut down on business for some but I don’t think that anyone in this town relies solely on fishing. We’ll just have to adjust and make do. It’s for the good of the species.”
The Department of Fisheries had announced Friday that it will implement catch and release regulations to offset low chinook stocks. As of July 29 chinook caught between Sheringham Point and Estevan Point must be released.
May 22, 1991
Blackstone scales down development
The Victoria developer who had planned a subdivision on Whiffin Spit with sewage outfall into the Strait of Juan de Fuca has now made it official – that plan is dead in the water thanks to the protests of Sooke residents.
Blackstone Capital Corporation has sent a circular letter out to Sooke residents and organizations that protested the outfall stating it has “significantly modified” the subdivision.
The Blackstone plan not only spurred one of the largest public protest meetings ever held in Sooke, but it resulted in the formation of a citizens’ committee, headed by Howard Elder, that has succeeded in getting amendments to the Sooke Community Plan that prohibit ocean outfalls.
