Note: This story contains information in the last paragraph that has changed since it was first posted.
The View Royal Community Association is offering area residents one last burst of information about the potential effects of Realstar’s redevelopment plans for the Christie Point Apartments property.
A meeting set for 7 p.m. tonight (March 21) at the community hall, 279 Island Hwy., aims to show the potential impact of a largely six-storey, 473-unit development on various areas of concern in and around Portage Inlet. According to community association president Barb Fetherstonhaugh, those range from added traffic to environmental to the precedent that building a project of this density on this site would have on future development in View Royal.
Attendees will be encouraged to sign a pen-and-paper petition to mayor and council opposing rezoning the property to allow for six storeys, and amending sections of View Royal’s Official Community Plan relating to the site. Current zoning limits building heights to four storeys on this peninsula of land on Craigowan Road off Shoreline Drive.
An online petition, entitled Protect Christie Point, is being administered on change.org by the Christie Point Advocates group. As of Tuesday afternoon, 267 people had signed, with a goal of 500.
Melanie Molloy, a member of the group, said things are fairly quiet right now in terms of three-way discussions between residents, the Town and Realstar. However, the top three areas of concern among residents at Christie Point continue to be environment, traffic and affordability, she said.
“The conversation’s not changing, it’s just more people saying they are not happy with the plans as they are,” she said.
There was initial belief from some people that the Realstar proposal was to be discussed by the Town’s community development advisory committee meeting next Tuesday (March 28) at 7 p.m. in council chambers. But Coun. Aaron Weisgerber clarified that it is on the agenda purely to notify members that it will be discussed at a future committee meeting.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
