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Rooftop Rezoned – Let’s Hope it Works
Kyle Slavin’s article “Rooftop Rezoned” in the May 26th Saanich News accurately captures my concerns about rezoning the proposed building at 3959 Shelbourne to include daycare and a rooftop play area for young children. As the article points out, I was supportive of including daycare as a permitted use. However, given the very sketchy information presented, I had, and continue to have, concerns about the proposed rooftop play area.
Essentially, the applicant stated that the parapet around the roof would be made higher, so that the children would not fall over, that the surface of the roof would be changed to a type of soft tile and that the play area would be divided into three parts, separated from each other by black chain link fence. No additional information was provided as to the environment children would find themselves in.
For me, this is simply not good enough. Rooftops exposed to all types of weather are inherently hostile places. Given enough attention to detail, I have no doubt a satisfactory play area could be created. Council’s approach, however, did nothing to insure that the outcome will be a good one. Once a rezoning has taken place control of an application passes from Council’s authority. In this case, an entirely different organization, the Vancouver Island Health Authority, will grant the daycare license. If Council wished to establish high standards for the play area, it had to be part of the rezoning.
It would have been easy enough to require the applicant to bring forward detailed plans showing the amenities that children would receive on the roof. These plans could then have been covenanted or otherwise secured and could have become “the new and improved” minimum standard for the rooftop play area. Unfortunately, that did not take place.
Some of my Council Colleagues indicated the fact a national daycare provider would likely become the operator, gave them reassurance. Hopefully, there expectations will pan out but Council zones for the permitted use, not for the operator of that use. There are no guarantees the national provider will end up being in place.
I remain surprised by Council’s willingness to move forward on this application without insisting on high standards for the rooftop. We are, after all, dealing with young children and this is a Council that has generally paid considerable attention to detail. Perhaps the lure of daycare, certainly a desirable use, was just too attractive. Hopefully, when all is said and done, everything will work out well. But we shouldn’t have to rely on hope.