Automobile dealers in what Saanich calls the Uptown-Douglas area say they can live with a compromise passed by the district that will allow existing automobile dealers in the neighbourhood to continue to operate, but will mean no new car lots can be established.
A zoning bylaw amendment will prohibit automobile, boat, truck and trailer sales, rentals, maintenance, repair and storage in what’s known as the Douglas East Highway Commercial Zone — bordered by Douglas and Blanshard streets and Tolmie Avenue and Saanich Road — unless the land is already being used for that purpose.
Earlier this year, staff recommended that Saanich council change zoning to limit car dealerships’ ability to expand, to safeguard the longer-term vision of a mixed-use and residential development in the area that includes housing, active transportation and commercial activity.
Bill Harbottle, president of the Jim Pattison Auto Group, said while the latest plan is not ideal for automobile dealers, it’s a big improvement.
Harbottle said the restrictions the zoning change would put on the properties mean car businesses risked not being able to obtain insurance or financing, and handcuffed the dealers if they wanted to improve their facilities.
He told council in May that dealers risked not being able to maintain their contractual obligations with their franchisors.
“It’s much better than what we were looking at before, that’s the most important thing,” he said in an interview. “It’s a bit of a compromise. But there’s still a lot of questions and we’ll have to see how the bylaws actually come out.”
The Jim Pattison Auto Group owns seven dealerships in the region. Three — Campus Acura, Campus Infiniti and Campus Nissan – are on Oak Street in the midst of the newly zoned area and employ more than 100 people.
Mayor Dean Murdock said preventing additional car lots puts the district in a better position to implement the Uptown-Douglas strategy, while allowing existing dealerships to continue in their current zoning.
“I think what we’ve reached is a solution that we’re hopeful will satisfy the owners of those dealerships so that their existing use can continue, and it gives us the certainty that there’s not going to be an increase of that type of use, which would limit our potential to move forward with the Uptown-Douglas plan.”
Saanich staff have been directed to prepare new zoning bylaws for the area, which should be back at council later this summer. At that point it should be clear exactly which sites will be subject to the new zoning regulations.
There are 42 properties in the zone, and it’s anticipated that 28 sites would see a zoning change to remove the ability to sell and store vehicles, while 14 properties would retain it.
It’s not clear if 3319 Douglas St., recently purchased by the GAIN Group, will be included in the automobile group.
Peter Trzewik, partner in the GAIN Group, told council the property has been used since 2007 as a lot to sell new and used vehicles and should be deemed an existing dealership.
GAIN, which operates the existing Porsche and Volkswagen dealerships on the same block of Douglas Street, hopes to build a modern Volkswagen dealership on the site.
Murdock said there will be an opportunity for input when the bylaw comes forward in the next few weeks identifying which properties will be allowed to continue to sell and store vehicles.
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