The following items came before District of Sooke council at their regular meeting on May 25. Bev Berger was Acting Mayor.

Rezoning underway

Local developer Jeff Zigay returned to council with a request to rezone 6645 Sooke Road,  which includes the west half of the future Brownsey Boulevard between Sooke Road and Goodmere Road, from Manufactured Home Park (MHP) to Town Centre Mixed Use (CTC).

The CTC zone will allow a six storey height to buildings. The owner is required to enter into a 219 covenant with the district to address road dedication and affordable housing. In order to meet the affordable housing component, the developer has agreed to contribute $500 per dwelling that is to be built on the site.

Council moved the Zoning Amendment Bylaw (600-16) to third reading.

Hedge removal finalized

Council carried a motion to allow the District to proceed with the removal of a hedge that currently exists on a Right-of-Way adjacent to 6519 Steeple Chase. Council concluded that Jared Sklepowich, resident of 6519 Steeple Chase, knowingly planted the hedge on municipal property at the risk of getting said hedge removed. While the removal was to be immediate, Councillor Kerrie Reay added a ‘friendlier’ motion to give the homeowner until the end of June 2015 to remove the hedge from the area in question.

Animal regulation and impounding bylaw adopted

Council has adopted Bylaw No. 617, Animal Regulation and Impounding Amendment Bylaw (392-2 to prohibit the feeding of wildlife and to amend the regulation of wild and exotic animals.

Cat house

A delegation from a cat rescue organization came before council asking the District of Sooke to amend the land use bylaws to allow for up to 15 cats on one property as well as a grandfather clause to allow residents to keep their cats if they had more than four.

In a letter to council Margarita Dominquez, from the Victoria Pet Food Bank & Feral Cat Rehabilitation Center, said vendettas and pure evil existed and council’s action were unfair.

The bylaw currently allows for a maximum of four animals per household.

During the presentation Acting Mayor Bev Berger stated that the district would not go against their own bylaws and the maximum number of pets would remain the same.

Berger stated that the group could apply for a rezoning to allow a “kennel” to operate on the property.

RCMP Report

S/Sgt. Jeff McArthur came before council with his quarterly report.

He presented council with some statistics which included violent crime which has gone up 55 per cent. This is due in part to the increase in methamphetamine in the community.

Property crime has also spiked by 62.8 per cent but he said it was not as severe as one might think. He stated that drug offences were down but traffic offences were up.

In his monthly report it shows a higher number of occurences under the Mental Health Act, 14 in April with a year to date of 48. Total in 2014 was 44. Also rising was the number of occurences of Theft under $5,000, 10 in April, total for year to date 48. Total in 2014 was 44.