The future of what Saanich calls the Shelbourne Valley will be under the microscope over the next year as the district maps out the next steps for a stretch of land that has already undergone a significant transformation.
Saanich council this week endorsed plans for an 11-month process to update the plan to align with the recently adopted official community plan, while addressing current district priorities like densification in the district’s corridors and centres.
It’s about keeping the plan relevant, said Mayor Dean Murdock, noting the original plan was adopted by the district in 2017.
“It’s an opportunity for staff to undertake an analysis of what the growth has looked like in the Shelbourne Valley. What kind of results have come about as a result of that Shelbourne Valley Action Plan? And what can we learn from that to allow us to continue to guide growth in that corridor?”
The 2017 plan included focusing on centres and villages, more housing options along Shelbourne Street and the most obvious change, a new design for Shelbourne Street itself.
The Shelbourne Street Improvement Project, now finishing up its $23-million second phase, started in the spring of 2020.
The goal, when completed in the summer of 2026, is to increase safety, improve access for pedestrians and cyclists and ensure underground utilities continue to function reliably.
The first phase of the project included protected bike lanes on Shelbourne between McKenzie Avenue and Torquay Drive, upgraded underground utility infrastructure, traffic-signal upgrades, repaving and sidewalk repairs. That work was completed in July 2022.
The second phase, to wrap up this fall, includes north and southbound protected bike lanes on Shelbourne from North Dairy Road to Pear Street, along with traffic-signal upgrades, road repaving, sidewalk widening, new crossings and underground infrastructure upgrades.
The third phase, which starts this fall, will see similar work done between Pear Street and Garnet Road.
Murdock noted that a number of new multi-family homes are now being built along Shelbourne, which he called one of Saanich’s busiest corridors.
The 11-month process will be done in five phases with public engagement that includes in-person meetings in two of those phases – the evaluation stage and the drafting stage. The district will also hold open houses and online webinars and accept online feedback from residents.
The study area will include properties 500 metres on either side of Shelbourne, between Torquay Drive and North Dairy Road.
In the first plan, building height and land-use changes were contemplated only in the first block on either side of Shelbourne, but this time, it will expand to consider increasing building heights and density in areas close to transit stops on Shelbourne.
That means looking at apartment buildings and other forms of multi-family housing as far west as Cedar Hill Road and as far east as Richmond Road and Larchwood Drive.
Shawn Steele, president of the Gordon Head Community Association, said they recognize the need for an update to align with the official community plan and other overlapping plans like the neighbourhood plan for the Quadra-McKenzie area.
Steele said they are pleased it will be a more thorough five-phase, 11-month study to ensure adequate opportunities for public engagement.
