Saturday, April 18, 2009

Good Government Should be Consistent

Secondary suites are illegal in Esquimalt. Victoria allows secondary suites, which must meet building and safety codes. Saanich does not allow secondary suites, although there were promises during the election.

The point? Whatever the right answer is, it should depend on zoning and be consistent in the area. One side of Harriet Road should not have different rights/obligations than the other side.

Mayor Barbara Desjardins is quoted as saying: "We want to stop this confrontational issue between neighbours."

I trust people realise that virtually every municipality has neighbours within a few feet who live in a totally different political jurisdiction. By having different laws in different areas you will promote confrontation.

Good government is one that works for all the local residents fairly and equally. We do not have that in the Capital of British Columbia.

3 comments:

Bernard said...

Speaking of Harriet Road, this might interest you:

http://victoriavision.blogspot.com/2008/06/police-incident-on-harriet-road-last.html

Sign bylaws are also different in each municipality - makes it a headache for many business people

Bernard said...

Crazy police jurisdiction issueSee if this works as an html link

David Bratzer said...

Saanich council does not want to move forward on anything. A pilot project on secondary suites was promised (likely in the neighborhood around Camosun). This was basically a stall tactic since there is lots of information about the impact secondary suites already available. Even the pilot project hasn't moved forward.

Frank Leonard (aka Mayor NIMBY) does not want to move forward on this issue (or any other issue, for that matter).

Dave