The developer of the Sandown Commons commercial centre on the former North Saanich racetrack lands has been granted a year-long extension to its conditional land use approval by the Agricultural Land Commission.
Platform Properties still needs to meet the requirements for ALC approval of a reclamation and drainage plan for the agricultural portion of the site, and now has until Nov. 14, 2017 to do so, said Curt Kingsley, the district’s director of corporate services.
Municipal staff are working with Platform, which represents the Randall Family that owns the land, in meeting the commission’s approval. North Saanich council accepted Platform’s drainage plan on July 18 but the company’s original five-year land use approval from the ALC expired last month.
The total Sandown property consists of 95 acres, all of it in the Agricultural Land Reserve. In 2014, North Saanich rezoned 12 acres for commercial use and Platform entered into a phased development agreement with the district in exchange for the Randalls donating the remaining 83 acres to the municipality. The land swap has not yet occurred. Twelve adjacent acres owned by the district will be added to the parcel to ensure there is no net loss to the ALR.
Meanwhile, a development permit for a Canadian Tire store is being processed by municipal staff and a development variance permit has been approved for erecting signs and parking.
The district is also requiring that a traffic impact analysis be undertaken.
“We hope to commence servicing later in 2017,” said Andrew Sinclair, a Platform development official, “with a goal of retailers opening in 2018.”
A group called Concerned Citizens of the Saanich Peninsula, established in 2008 to help protect the rural quality of life, has called for a moratorium on the Sandown proposal. The group has said it fears as many as four midsized wholesale-retail stores, with 40,000 square feet each, on the 12-acre commercial site while the original proposal to save the rest for agricultural purposes is “no longer recognizable.”
With the nearby Gateway Shopping Centre approved by Sidney in September just a few kilometres away, the rural character will be subjected to more than 22 acres of commercial development, the group said.
A report to council in September said that municipal property tax revenue associated with the Sandown lands was $10,367 in 2016. Assessed value of the commercial land in 2012 was between $7.8 million and $10.45 million for the commercial portion, assuming it was and serviced. Had current Class 6 Business mill rates were applied to that estimates, the municipal taxes would range from $76,000 to almost $102,000.
