Land-use and transportation in the Tillicum-Burnside neighbourhood will be under the microscope for the next 18 months, after Saanich council endorsed terms of reference for the comprehensive study.
Mayor Dean Murdock said council has heard from residents and community association members about the need for an up-to-date plan for the area, bordered by the Gorge Waterway to the south, the Trans-sa国际传媒 Highway to the north, Harriet Road to the east and Cuthbert Holmes Park and Tillicum Centre to the west.
The study will look at four key areas: the Tillicum Burnside centre, the Tillicum corridor, the Burnside corridor and Gorge Village.
The work, which comes with a $250,000 pricetag, will start this winter after council adoption, and run for about 18 months, with a final report due in the spring of 2026.
“This is an area where we are likely to see a lot of changes in coming years and probably one of the major drivers will be the redevelopment of the shopping centre,” said Murdock, noting there have been a couple of attempts at redevelopment of the Tillicum Centre site over the last several years.
“I suspect that’s probably something we’ll see in the more immediate term, so I think it’s important for us to have an up-to-date plan for that area that’s going to help us guide what that growth is going to look like, what kind of services and amenities are going to support that growth.”
Murdock said council is aware that these kinds of plans can generate concern and frustration for residents, and lessons were learned from previous exercises.
“I do think that this process will be shaped and informed by some of what’s been learned through Quadra and McKenzie and the Shelbourne Valley [plans], and of course more recently the conclusion of the Uptown-Douglas process,” he said.
The Quadra-McKenzie plan, in particular, raised concern, as some of the material used at open houses and in presentations to show long-term possibilities left the impression with some residents that their homes would be replaced by new roads or multi-family projects.
Coun. Susan Brice said that was regrettable and should not happen this time around.
Brice said the process is not meant to be prescriptive or to force change on anyone’s private property.
“Just because it comes up a certain colour on a municipal map doesn’t mean that somebody’s going to come in and turn it into a three- or four-storey development,” she said.
