VicTU at Victoria Council Public Hearing
The City of Victoria had a council meeting on September 11 focusing on the Official Community Plan (OCP) 10-Year update. The OCP is a general guideline that City Council and staff use when making decisions on zoning, transportation, and even has considerations with respect to responding to climate change. 2012 was the last time such a plan was updated.
https://www.victoria.ca/community-culture/official-community-plan
There was more than an hour of citizens speaking to council during the public hearing. Many of those opinions expressed concern over the OCP’s favouritism toward corporate developers. A video and written agenda are available to see.
However, so many people were registered to speak that the meeting ended before they got through everyone. The continuation of the meeting will be later tonight. They still have to get to the motions to approve OCP 2025 among other bylaws.
I clipped the video where VicTU members Deb Hull and Harland Bird spoke. Deb talked about how her family members couldn’t possibly afford to buy a home in Victoria, something I’ve heard so much of from people in their 20’s and 30’s.
Harland Bird targeted the supply-solutionism of the OCP, pointing out that more housing alone is unhelpful without affordable housing for tenants. A better right of first refusal, the right to return to a renovated or rebuilt home at the same price, and preserving already existing affordable housing are key to solving this tenant crisis.
By the way, the full video has closed captioning if you need it, clipped videos start at 1:43:15.
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