The Times Colonist has published a stream of letters opposing a proposal for a high-rise building in James Bay on the site bounded by Quebec, Montreal and Kingston Streets.

Objectors have pointed out that it is not what the city needs: It provides expensive investment properties instead of affordable housing, is out of keeping with the neighbourhood and will dominate the skyline.

Rezoning the site would have required a public hearing. Opposition was gearing up for that hearing. However, it will not now happen, thanks to the revised Official Community Plan.

While attention was on the plan rather than the details, the revised OCP quietly moved the boundary of the Inner Harbour District one block to the south, from Quebec Street to Kingston Street. This neatly changed the zoning of the site so that the development can proceed without a public hearing.

It is to be confirmed at the council meeting on Thursday, with no opportunity for public input.

This is convenient for those councillors who are determined to allow developers to make money by exploiting our city — it avoids the inconvenience of pretending to listen to the citizens who elected them. But it is another nail in the coffin of democracy in Victoria.

We are stuck with this council until the next election in October 2026. Let’s remember the names of the councillors who have acted with integrity and listened to the community: Thank you to Chris Coleman, Marg Gardiner and Stephen Hammond.

Roland Clift

Victoria

Victoria Coun. Dave Thompson and his colleagues have passed the new Official Community Plan, setting in motion a social experiment that treats Victoria like a spreadsheet instead of a city — an experiment tried and failed in every city west and south of the Georgia Strait, mind you.

We’re told that blanket density will make homes affordable and “vibrant,” as if concrete and congestion were ingredients for community. But look elsewhere: Toronto and Vancouver, both masters of the density gospel, have seen prices climb faster than cranes can rise.

RBC’s data shows affordability at record lows even as supply soars. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reports the same: More units built, fewer people able to buy.

It’s the economics of wishful........

© Times Colonist