Stop the South Skirt Mtn 'Development'!
** New public hearing: Monday, March 16, at Langford City Hall (877 Goldstream Ave.) Doors: 6:30 pm. Anyone is welcome to speak. **
Hi everyone,
Our team won the first round, now we advance to the finals! Langford Mayor Stew Young has caved in and scheduled a second public hearing on the massive South Skirt Mountain towers project. The blustery mayor denies there was a problem with the public process, but we seek to educate him!
Everyone is invited to join us for a big thumbs-down to the massive new condo development proposed for South Skirt Mountain, part of Victoria's Greenbelt and adjacent to Goldstream Provincial Park. "Unlimited height" towers are planned to replace rare garry oak and arbutus bluffs, home to great horned owls, screech owls, pileated woodpeckers and bald eagles, only 20 km west of Victoria.
Questions: Does this new public hearing signal the return of democracy to Langford? Will Langford City Council adopt the re-zoning for South Skirt Mountain? Or will they actually listen to the residents who oppose it? Will this hearing get thrown out for lack of due process like the last one? We're rolling out the heavy artillery (so to speak!)
Get a front-row seat for the show! Anyone with an interest can speak at the public hearing. Folks can also send letters by email to: council@cityoflangford.ca, or by mail to 877 Goldstream Ave, 2nd Floor, Victoria V9B 2X8. Please state plainly if you are opposed to the project (Bylaw 1209) or not. Thank you!
VIC FAN welcomes the new hearing, but Langford Council is still on notice for bad behaviour.
Young told the Goldstream Gazette this week that VIC FAN's demand for an unbiased hearing was "purely a stall tactic and would have happened regardless of the public hearing." He said speakers who brought up water quality and wildlife were "derogatory" and "incorrect" and he
has the right to interrupt and insult them. These statements contradict the rules set out by the Local Government Act and fly in the face of decades of case law on the subject of bias at public hearings, according to VIC FAN's legal counsel and experienced municipal observers.
Zoe Blunt, representing VIC FAN, said the new meeting is good news, but the proceedings will be closely monitored.
"We have the right to speak without being insulted at public hearings," she said. "We are standing up to initimidation and we are asking for proper public process."
VIC FAN has noted several times that Young's belligerent pro-development stance isn't winning the hearts and minds of Langfordites. Today, we're warning him that continuing to bash conservationists could backfire. Young's behaviour comes dangerously close to tainting the entire public process for South Skirt Mountain. His latest comments, published in the Gazette March 6, further demonstrate the mayor's disregard for his own constituents and their legitimate concerns about unchecked development and urban sprawl alongside Goldstream Provincial Park.
Thanks to everyone who's joining us, sending letters and making donations to the legal fund! Every little bit helps! Please visit our website for the latest news, video, photos, and Paypal link.
Happy day,
Zoe Blunt
"Public deserves a South Skirt say"
Times Colonist editorial (March 7)
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(Sample Letter) To Langford Mayor and Council:
I live in Victoria so you may conclude that my opinions have no validity in your jurisdiction.
However, it's March 9th, and I'm watching a significant blanket of snow fall - very unusual for this part of the world. I also notice, from my fourth floor apartment, momentous winds that blow from the west knocking everything on my balcony over. I've lived here eight years, and those winds have only begun in the past few years. I call them the "Bear Mountain Winds" which blow across that bald face.
Now I don't want to hold Langford responsible for all the global climate changes we're seeing, but I do believe that clearcutting the planet and paving it with unsustainable and poorly planned monster housing developments is a very old way of going about business.
You may choose to deny that the way you behave on the earth has anything to do with anything, but many of us know differently. I am writing to ask you to check your egos, and accept that the world is changing. The demands of the youth are changing. They will not be impressed if you keep going on the path you're on. Some of us measure success using something other than our bank accounts.
Please stop the wanton destruction of planet earth.
Namaste,
Janine Bandcroft
Founder and Co-ordinator, Victoria Street Newz
