Community Growth and Development

Community growth and development can be a contentious topic and bring out strong feelings. Many welcome change and growth; many also fear that the things they value will be lost. Our history as a community is based on logging, fishing and agriculture as major economic drivers; by the time Sooke incorporated, in 1999, these were already sunset industries but they played an important role in shaping our small town character. Since then, however, Sooke has grown significantly - from 8.7k in the 2001 census to 15k in the 2021 census. Estimates for the 2026 population are pushing 18k. Averaged, our community has grown at a slow and steady 3% per year - but even at that rate, we have doubled our population over the last 25 years. For long-term community members - including myself - that's a big change! 

Some things, however, haven't changed at the same pace. In 1999 we had a two lane highway running from Langford to and through Sooke, with a single bridge across Sooke River; that same highway still has only two lanes for  the  majority of it's length and there is still only a single bridge across Sooke River. There have been many road improvements, but accidents still frequently block sections with no effective alternative route. The challenges of dealing with this are compounded by the fact that Highway 14 is under the jurisdiction of the Province. Making the situation worse, the Ministry of Transportation and Transit has communicated that there will be no new major projects for Sooke until Sooke spends more on our internal road network.

Hard infrastructure other than transportation has better kept up with growth but still not enough to prevent growing pains, such as the significant one-time costs experienced by many residents as the sewer service area has slowly expanded. Arguably many areas that should be considered critical for sewer service - Billings Spit/Milne's Landing area for one - have not yet been reached. Looking at the District of Sooke map of parks we have acceptable park coverage North of Grant Road, but we lack sufficient greenspace and community use areas in Sooke Core between Throup/Waddamms/Grant and the harbour. Something I've  heard from many of you is how badly the long-term closure of the water play park at Fishy Park has impacted families in the area, who now must drive to Langford or Colwood for an opportunity to let the kids cool down and burn off energy.

I believe we need to move forward and ensure that our infrastructure grows alongside our community to support us all. We aren't the sleepy fishing village of yore and that's not something we can fight, nor do I believe we should attempt to! Change is natural and inevitable but we can guide it to ensure that as our community grows, we prioritize maximizing green space, ocean access, community infrastructure, adequate commercial space and accessible affordable housing.

I've heard from some of my fellow candidates and from some community members that "Sooke is full". Whether you believe that or not, we are certainly no longer the small community we were at my birth or that many of us remember. Even if some in our community want to, we can't turn back the clock and making governance decisions based on such a desire will harm all of our residents. We need to move forward and make decisions reflecting the needs of our community now.

It is true that as we approach 20,000 residents we are facing new challenges. We are now entirely responsible for 911 service costs, for example. Infrastructure, especially transportation, is past capacity - largely because previous councils have refused to respond appropriately to the reality of our growing population. We need to tackle these challenges head on and make up for past infrastructure deficits. This will require that the district bring in more revenue. Like many of us, I would like to avoid meeting that need with residential taxes that may make our community prohibitively expensive for long-term residents. The most practical solution to this dilemma is to increase commercial space and density within the Sooke core. We need to be proactive with zoning and planning to reduce the friction and pain of growth both for the development process and for existing neighbours of new development.

So, to ensure responsible and sustainable growth, what do we need to do?

• Improve long term planning. We can't afford to wait another 20 years for things like the Throup to Phillips connector. The simple step of regularly adding 2-3 assent voting questions, particularly to obtain approval of the electors for long-term borrowing for specific projects, to each general election would give incoming councils a mandate and pre-approval to act quickly and decisively on our community's biggest priorities. This would also save the district $40,000-50,000 per question by avoiding holding unnecessary and costly standalone referendums.
• Work with the Province to ensure the new elementary school in Sunriver area is actualized.
• Work to adjust Development Cost Charges (DCCs). DCCs have skyrocketed in most jurisdictions including Sooke and while they are necessary to fund infrastructure they can also be a significant barrier to housing affordability. Instead of increasing DCCs, we need to focus on mandating that adequate infrastructure is constructed along with development in new neighbourhoods. For example if Sunriver wants to expand more, there should be a requirement for the construction of a second exit - such as new road connection from Philips to Otter Point (likely by way of Pascoe Road).
• Prioritize acquiring land particularly along the ocean front - land costs are increasing and will continue to do so. Our best chance of being financially able to secure the land we need for community amenities and greenspace is now not later.
• Prezone for the development we want to see. Prezoning is one of the most powerful tools we have to reduce costs to the District and increase affordable housing and appropriate commercial development. Our current piecemeal rezoing approach costs time and money that could be put to much better use. We can, as a community, zone to reflect our Official Community Plan and focus high density in our town core. This will the development where we, as a community have decided it should, easier for landowners, developers and the District.