GET INVOLVED TO STOP FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IN SUNRIVER ESTATES

GET INVOLVED TO STOP FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IN SUNRIVER ESTATESGET INVOLVED TO STOP FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IN SUNRIVER ESTATESGET INVOLVED TO STOP FURTHER DEVELOPMENT IN SUNRIVER ESTATES

February 12th council meeting - fail

Council Fails in dealing with rezoning amendment on Phillips

See more information in posting below "Council Fails"

Updates on the Proposed Development Permit zoning Amendment

Thank you to all who attended the Developers meeting at the Prestige on October 21ST

See Developers Letter to Residents

UPDATE AND NOTES FROM DEVELOPERS ZONING APPLICATION MEETING

A well attended first meeting

No Emergency or Secondary Access Road out of Sunriver

No Community Support for this Development

Our thanks to Sunriver Estates Ltd. for providing a venue, the Prestige Hotel on October 21st, for Sunriver and Sooke residents to express their thoughts and concerns related to the proposed Zoning Amendment.

Norm Eden, one of the four founders of Sunriver Estates Ltd., and Philip Buchanan a Project Engineer at JE Anderson & Associates were in attendance to present their plans and answer questions.


The Developer has completed or is in the process of completing ALL 715 units that they were permitted to build in Sunriver Estates.  There is currently no provision/permit/zoning in place to build anything at the top of Sunriver Way.  The Developer is planning to propose a  zoning amendment to allow them to build an additional 50 single family homes with suites, as well as a 90 home bare land strata development virtually identical to Rivers Edge - all at the top of Sunriver Way.

No Community Support for this Development

No Emergency or Secondary Access Road out of Sunriver

No Community Support for this Development

As you might imagine, there was not one person who expressed support for this proposed development from the roughly 125 concerned residents in attendance at the meeting.  Below are some of the most prominent issues as expressed by attendees;

No Emergency or Secondary Access Road out of Sunriver

No Emergency or Secondary Access Road out of Sunriver

Volume of additional traffic within the subdivision causes safety concerns

By far the biggest concern expressed was the legitimate danger posed by only one primary exit road out of Sunriver Estates and the Phillips Road area.   Forest fire, earthquake and other events that could prompt a call to evacuate the area are real threats to the thousands of residents surrounded by forest and water ways.  Another emergency exit road is required to be constructed and in place before any further development is considered.  This should be a gated road for emergency access only, as a through road will only bring excessive traffic from outside the subdivision  using this as an East /West corridor of convenience or to avoid Sooke Road traffic - that would be an even worse situation for Sunriver and Phillips residents.

Volume of additional traffic within the subdivision causes safety concerns

Volume of additional traffic within the subdivision causes safety concerns

Volume of additional traffic within the subdivision causes safety concerns

Speeding on Sunriver, Riverstone and Willowpark has been a long term concern  of residents, especially those living on these exit roads as well as to pedestrians from throughout the subdivision who use the cross walks and sidewalks.  The proposed 140 unit development (not including suites) would significantly increase the number of vehicle trips going in and out of those corridors, leading to enhanced safety concerns.   Commercial vehicles, delivery vehicles, school and transit buses would all increase, leading to further danger, congestion and noise in the area.

Ongoing construction for 20+ years

Volume of additional traffic within the subdivision causes safety concerns

Current Phillips Rd bridges over Demamiel Creek under duress?

Sunriver Estates was started in 2002, with ongoing and steady construction every year since. When locating here, residents were aware that this would be a 715 unit subdivision when complete, so have put up with the heavy truck and associated vehicle traffic, blasting, noise, and dirt for over 20 years.  Residents are not prepared to put up with another 5- 7 years  of construction for an additional very large phase of development.  Developers and civic leadership should abide by the original development plan that was conveyed to buyers/residents.

Current Phillips Rd bridges over Demamiel Creek under duress?

Volume of additional traffic within the subdivision causes safety concerns

Current Phillips Rd bridges over Demamiel Creek under duress?

Not only do these two small bridges serve as the only entry/exit road to people living in the area North of the bridges, but they also are used daily by commercial  vehicles servicing the area, and more concerningly by HEAVY commercial vehicles involved in construction and development.  Dump trucks loaded with rock routinely cross those bridges, yet there is no posted weight limit or monitoring of the situation.  There is a call to have engineering  assess the bridges for suitability of such vehicles with a posting of load limits.  What is the life span of these bridges and what is the inevitable replacement  plan?

About SWAG

Stop the Proposed Development Permit Amendment to add another 140 homes to Sunriver Estates.

Stop the Proposed Development Permit Amendment to add another 140 homes to Sunriver Estates.

Stop the Proposed Development Permit Amendment to add another 140 homes to Sunriver Estates.

Sunriver Way Action Group (SWAG) is made up of concerned Sooke residents, primarily living in the Phillips Rd. and Sunriver development area, who oppose granting the developer  significantly increased development at the top of Sunriver Way via a Proposed Amendment to the currently approved/zoned number of homes in Sunriver Estates.

Already too BIG for roads and services

Stop the Proposed Development Permit Amendment to add another 140 homes to Sunriver Estates.

Stop the Proposed Development Permit Amendment to add another 140 homes to Sunriver Estates.

Sunriver subdivision, alone, already encompasses over 700 homes. Over twenty per cent of Sooke's population lives on the north side of two little bridges on Phillips Road, crossing Demamiel Creek.  There are no schools, no retail stores, coffee shops, or other services available to this community within a reasonable walking distance in va

Sunriver subdivision, alone, already encompasses over 700 homes. Over twenty per cent of Sooke's population lives on the north side of two little bridges on Phillips Road, crossing Demamiel Creek.  There are no schools, no retail stores, coffee shops, or other services available to this community within a reasonable walking distance in various weather conditions.  Leaving automobile, school bus, or inadequate public transit as the only means of accessing these services.  This is not in line with the Districts expresed concerns about climate change and the environment. Adding another several hundred vehicles to the mix only exacerbates the problem.

Disaster waiting to happen

Stop the Proposed Development Permit Amendment to add another 140 homes to Sunriver Estates.

Disaster waiting to happen

Forest fires are becoming a regular occurrence in our province, and not only in the summer months. Our area is completely surrounded by forest. An earthquake is predicted to happen today, tomorrow or  twenty years from now - not if, but when.  How will residents evacuate the area if such occurs? Traffic in this area is increasing weekly, 

Forest fires are becoming a regular occurrence in our province, and not only in the summer months. Our area is completely surrounded by forest. An earthquake is predicted to happen today, tomorrow or  twenty years from now - not if, but when.  How will residents evacuate the area if such occurs? Traffic in this area is increasing weekly, another 250 to 400 vehicles travelling on the main arteries of Riverstone, Sunriver, and Phillips, will inevitably lead to many dangerous situations. The road systems were not designed to accommodate parking, two way traffic, heavy trucks and busses.

Join the opposition - show up at meetings, write your mayor and council - get involved.

Sign up to receive updates

SWAG will endeavour to email updated information pertaining to this Rezoning Application

Contact your local government leaders

Sending your own concerns about allowing further excessive development will allow leadership to understand residents/citizens concerns

Write to Sooke District Muncipality

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Contact Us

Feel free to send us your comments

We are open to hearing perspectives on the positives or negatives of the development proposal

Sunriver Way Action Group

info@sunriverway.ca


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