Project a surprise.

To the Mayor and Council

To the Advisory Design Panel

Last week Large & Co. made a submission to the Advisory Design Panel for the development of the above lot on Oak Bay Avenue.

A friend attended this meeting and advised us that it was stated that the new owners (us) of the lot to the north were "completely aware of the project" . This is not the first time the developer or his agents have made this incorrect comment.

To set the record straight, before we purchased our property on York Place, our realtor told us the adjoining lot was probably going to be developed. We checked at the municipal hall and found that there was no application in place. We looked at the lot and considering its small size and proximity to surrounding residents we agreed with the realtors that any development would eventually be a modest one. A few townhouses seemed the best guess. We are not anti-development and were not too concerned.

The only contact we had with the developer regarding his proposal was at the lawyer's office when we were signing the final paperwork. At the last minute the developer sent the contract back with a hand-written note for us to initial saying simply that he wanted to develop the adjoining lot. There were no particulars. At no other time then, before or since has the developer contacted us with what he actually planned to do.

We did not know how massive the developer's proposal would be until well after we had committed to purchase the property and this was from a neighbour, not the developer, who has never contacted us.

It is disingenuous for the developer or his agents to suggest that we were aware of what was planned for this lot, somehow implying that we agreed to it.

This is a free country and we respect the developer's right to apply for any size of building he wishes; we would appreciate him respecting our right as adjoining property owners to object if we feel his development is not appropriate for this lot. And we do strongly object.

There were a number of other statements made to the ADP, such as nothing else can be built on the lot or that this development met the vision of the OCP, etc. which appeared to go unchallenged. I know the ADP is a volunteer organization and has a difficult task. It's job is not to adjudicate between those for and those against a specific project. However, in the future it may be helpful if it would accept at least a written submission from those with a contrary view. This would provide the ADP with a more complete and balanced picture before submitting its report.

Thank you for your time, both of us appreciate the work you do.