ayor Wendal Milne is combing through the past and correcting wrongs and trying to make things right.
For years a restrictive covenant was placed on the Sooke Harbour House limiting the number of commercial events they could hold per year. This undoubtedly created a hardship for the owners by restricting their business. They were made to build a parking lot across the street at great expense but they did the right thing and made it the first “green” parking lot in Sooke. After allowing the new hotel to have inadequate parking, it makes sense to make the change for the Sooke Harbour House.
When the Official Community Plan was adopted there were many residents who had no idea what it meant to them. Unless one was directly involved they did not know what different zoning might mean. It’s a good thing people are feeling they can come forward and state their case and actually have a council that can see what’s wrong. Inconsistent zoning with some properties zoned R1 and others RU4 in the same neighbourhood makes no sense and some felt it was a money grab to get funds when the property owners had to apply for a rezoning so they could carry on with their long range plans.
What this means is that council is actually listening to the public rather than ignoring them and this is bound to make a difference in the way the town perceives those duly elected members of council. If it takes some time to go through all of the contracts and issues brought forth by the residents, so be it. It is the right thing to do and it’s about time.
