Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Son of Mega-Yacht Marina Proposed for Victoria Harbour Episode Two: Attack of the Zones (as in Zoning Bylaws... okay, yeah, an unwiedly post title, I admit it...)

....but we couldn't end the year without having another post about the mega-yacht marina proposed for Victoria's Inner Harbour, could we?
The new marina proposal is now before Transport Canada and the deadline for submitting comments to them is December 27, 2010. While the new design is signicantly smaller than the previous version, the Save Victoria Harbour coalition stills finds much at fault. Their website says, "Although the footprint of the marina has been reduced, other than viewscapes, none of the serious safety and operational issues associated with the marina have been eliminated. The meagre information provided so far indicates that the layout may not conform to the zoning restrictions. The layout violates the intent, if not the letter of the new zoning...The profile shown raises even more safety worries for paddlers and, in fact, the plans do not appear to satisfy the conditions of the Navigable Waters Act permit which was granted earlier this year."
After a year of protests by kayakers, other paddlers, and other interested groups, Victoria city council to voted to amend zoning bylaws regarding the proposed site earlier this year. However, the developer has vowed to carry forward with his plan, despite the pollution and congestion it will cause in the harbour.
Help stop the marina, click here.

2 comments:

  1. The New marina is very good for Victoria, stop complaining and paddle around it!! It's a working harbour not a pond or a cute little Inlet!!!

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  2. If you'd actually had looked at the plans, you'd see that there is in fact no place to paddle around it, except of course out in the marine traffic lanes among the float planes, ferries, commercial vessels and recreation vessels that use the three marinas that are already in the harbour.
    Yes, it's a working harbour, and harbour facilities should be maintained for vessels that actually live and work here, not for ridiculously wasteful and expensive recreational craft owned and operated by people who don't even live here. Why should we have to sacrifice the beauty of our harbour forever just to appease rich transients?
    Supporting an industry that depends on, in fact requires, the burning of climate changing fossil fuels is a short-sighted decision, as well as being economically dumb as such businesses will suffer as oil prices inevitably rise rapidly over the next few years.
    So no, it's not really good for Victoria.

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