The charm and ambience of Oak Bay will be lost forever

Dear Mayor Jensen

I would like to voice my concern over the proposed development at 2326 Oak Bay Ave by Large & Co. My hope is that the councillors and yourself start protecting our community. If too much development happens, the charm and ambience of Oak Bay will be lost forever. It seems the OCP is not worth the paper it is written on if it continually is ignored and allows developers to tear down small buildings and erect 5 story apartment blocks and increase density above the recommended ratio in the OCP.

The latest example of this is Bowker Creek by Abstract Development. It was passed by council and it exceeds provisions laid out in the OCP. It should have been denied on design merits alone. Who ever saw a building wearing goggles. Now we have a developer who wants to destroy a very old protected Garry Oak tree and character home to erect a massive apartment building. I have heard that he envisons apartment buildings to be built all the way down Newport Ave destroying all the heritage homes along the way. And if council allows this one, it will set an precedent for more to follow.

I implore you to vote against this proposal and protect the ambience of Oak Bay. Right now I feel Oak Bay is under threat of death by a thousand cuts. I know things change but heritage is too important to ignore and Oak Bay is a very special place and needs to be protected from developers and their horrible ugly buildings.

Thank you for your time and I hope you make the right decision for Oak Bay.

Sincerely

Cathi Robinson