On opinions and the holding thereof

With the recent municipal election (in which i did not run), i began to feel a weight lifting off my shoulders. With Tuesday’s swearing-in of the new council, and the official end of my own council term, the unweighting is complete. Continue reading “On opinions and the holding thereof”

Sorry! Or, yes to no housing

The why of another vote ‘against’ housing

(6 min read)

Dear Tent-and-Van-Dwelling Tofino Workers,

This is an apology.

In a momentous decision last Tuesday, council voted 4–2 to halt a 10.8-ha (26.7-acre) development application from Woodsmere Holdings that included 116 apartments (phase 1), a 48-unit motel (phase 2), and 282 other units including rental apartments, single-family lots, duplexes and four-plexes—all to be built out, things going well, over the next ten years.

Woodsmere Site Plan — Woodsmere site plan (concept)

That build won’t happen. Continue reading “Sorry! Or, yes to no housing”

Innovation: a response

Why our little town seems stuck

8 min read

Tofino council (of which i am a member) received a heartfelt email a while ago, one i thought deserved a thoughtful response. It turned into more of an essay than i expected. First, here’s the email (abridged):

Dear Council,

I am writing to you today in hopes of receiving some answers to a few questions that have been keeping me awake at night. I am … unsettled by some of the changes happening within our beautiful, albeit endangered town. Continue reading “Innovation: a response”

A plaza of possibility

The why of a vote “against” housing

On July 11, council heard an application from The Shore to begin a rezoning process to add “nightly rentals” as an approved use in CD-TS zone. We decided not to proceed, but were split on the vote, with four believing that turning residential housing (albeit high-end) into nightly rentals was not appropriate, two thinking the application had enough promise to at least move to the next stage.

I and one other councillor voted in favour of allowing the application to proceed. (There was no guarantee it would succeed, just that it would move forward in the multi-stage process.) I’ve been asked about why i voted as i did, in this time of housing shortage. Here’s my reasoning. Continue reading “A plaza of possibility”

Fresh eyes

New art by Victoria Leader

I’m no art critic, by any stretch, but i do appreciate viewing an occasional handful of paintings as part of a lively cultural scene. A new art show opened Saturday at Main Street Gallery & Espresso Bar (in Tofino Sea Kayaking, 320 Main St.), at which emerging Tofino artist Victoria Leader displays some recent work. Continue reading “Fresh eyes”