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Victoria council turns down request to close to public downtown mid-block walkway

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Nearby residents say maintaining the mid-block pedestrian route at 836 and 848 Yates St. is important to livability in the downtown area. TIMES COLONIST

Downtown residents who want a mid-block pedestrian path connecting Yates and Johnson streets opened to the public hope they will soon gain daytime access to the route.

Victoria councillors turned down a request to close the path to the public and allow access only to residents until an agreement is reached with owners of the adjacent property for an expanded walkway.

The walkway provides an important link from Johnson Street to a well-used bus stop on Yates Street, said Mathew Yee, who lives in a building at 834 Johnson St. that includes owners, renters and supportive housing units.

Closure of the path triples the distance residents, some of whom use walkers and wheelchairs, must travel between the building and the bus stop and other mid-block amenities on Yates Street.

“It just adds one layer of inaccessibility that’s unnecessary because it was supposed to be part of the original design,” said Yee, a member of his building’s strata council.

Chard Development agreed to construct a walkway that is open to the public during the day as part of a development permit issued in 2017 for a mixed-use residential building at 848 Yates St., mid-block between Quadra and Blanshard streets.

It was intended to expand on an existing path at the adjacent property at 836 Yates St, with an agreement in principle with its owner, Coronet Ventures Ltd. Coronet Ventures installed an unauthorized fence between the two properties in March 2019 for “security and crime prevention,” closing the walkway to the public.

That meant the intended pathway narrowed from almost six metres to 1.22 metres. Due to the limited space, Chard applied to the city for permission to restrict access to the walkway on its property to residents until the city can reach an agreement with the adjacent property to create a wider path.

The company says it’s committed to building the intended public walkway once an agreement with Coronet Ventures is reached.

A representative for Coronet Ventures declined to comment, citing ongoing negotiations.

Chard founder Dave Chard said he’s disappointed in the council decision. While Chard has represented the strata council on the issue with the city, what happens next with the walkway is up to the strata, he said.

“When you cannot have the proper width, we believe council needs to seriously understand the safety and the livability of the people who live in the units that face on to this area,” Chard said.

The strata council has opposed the opening of the walkway, citing concerns about safety and public health. Many residents of the building have written to council opposing public access, with letters focusing on fears that people who are unhoused will set up camp along the walkway or attempt to break into ground-floor units.

The Downtown Residents Association supports maintaining public access, saying mid-block ­pedestrian paths are “key to building livability” in the downtown area.

Ian Sutherland, chair of the association’s land use committee, said he understands residents’ concerns, but they don’t warrant closing the promised public path during the day.

“If somebody does their due diligence as a purchaser in one of these developments, you know, the public right-of-way was a part of that proposal, and a lot of people like to change things after the fact, I suppose,” he said.

The community association raised concerns with the city several months ago about another public walkway connecting Yates and View streets that has been closed to non-residents, but it remained locked the last time the group checked, Sutherland said.

Yee said he was glad council refused to give permission to close the walkway, but he’s not sure if that decision will be enforced.

“It’s one step. I guess we’ll see if those fences come down,” he said.

regan-elliott@timescolonist.com