James Bay Neighbourhood Association

An on-going Beacon feature on land use & planning - to alert, inform, and prompt community action - and to celebrate success!

Paul Servos, CEO of the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) made a presentation to the James Bay Neighbourhood Association (JBNA) on April 8th, 2009 following the Association’s AGM. His presentation covered Ogden Point, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Cruise Tourism Community Initiative (CTCI) and cruise ship-related traffic issues, but he also responded to other GVHA-related questions.

The GVHA is a non-profit society with a Board of Directors made up of representatives from the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations, the City of Victoria, Township of Esquimalt, Provincial Capital Commission, Victoria & Esquimalt Harbour Society, Tourism Victoria, Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, and the Capital Regional District, as well as 3 community representatives. The GVHA is separate from the Port of Victoria, which is operated by Transport Canada. The GVHA’s mandate is to operate four waterfront properties.

Servos stated that he was listening to problems in the community but he also stated that the GVHA would not alter direction and had no end for growth in sight.

• The docks at Fisherman’s Wharf are being reconfigured, with fishing boats moved to the west docks and the central dock area reserved primarily for pleasure vessels. The entrance to the parking lot will be widened.
• There appears to be contradictory definitions and visions regarding Fisherman’s Wharf versus Fisherman’s Wharf Park. While the community sees a pedestrian experienced combination park and wharf, the GVHA sees a wharf serviced by a driveway, with an adjacent city park. The GVHA feels that a reconfigured parking lot and 2 licensed bus lines, following strict guidelines, make it safe for buses to access the area. The wider configuration at Heron Cove may help, but perhaps all parties (the City, GVHA and residents) need to reconsider pedestrian safety and access between the wharf and the park. All vehicles are not created equal. Pedestrians are safer when they are not competing with buses.
• In response to a March 18 request of the GVHA, City Council granted a 5-year renewable license to the GVHA for the use of a strip of Fisherman’s Wharf Park. GVHA plans to widen the road to facilitate vehicles and buses entering their property and to increase dock area parking.
• On May 2 there will be a public presentation on the revitalization of Fisherman’s Wharf from 11 am – 2 pm.
• Numerous upgrades at Ogden Point include handrails at the entrance to the breakwater, repainted warehouses featuring locally-themed murals, a bandshell and expansion of the busker program from the causeway.
• Improved signage, and increased public parking and walkways separated from commercial traffic are part of the terminal wharf master plan.
• New walking maps and signage to the downtown.
• Ogden Point can accommodate up to 3 ships at one time. Each ship advises local tour operators of the number of shore excursions purchased by passengers 48 hrs prior to docking. Up to 60 buses per ship may be assigned to await passengers at the docks.
• The GVHA issues permits for all uses of the Ogden Point area. Storage may include shipments of cars trucked from the Port of Vancouver, and the parking of Pacific Coach Lines and Shawnigan Lake buses. The issue of coach parking is being addressed with the city, as Ogden Point is now the only designated coach parking site in the city.
• Ogden Point operations subsidize the downtown (lower causeway and Ships Point) sites

GVHA in the Community.

• contributed to the James Bay Air Quality Study and is currently considering an application to assist with the Traffic Noise Study.
• maintains ongoing involvment in the city’s Harbour Pathway Project.
• plans a mural along the length of the breakwater, working with the First Nations and other community members – a project that will take 2-3 years.
• 35 days of festivals are scheduled in 2009.
• Ogden Point Open House on May 9 will showcase facility operations.

Cruise Tourism Community Initiative (CTCI)

Servos introduced GVHA Communications Coordinator Rebecca Penz, who advised that the CTCI has been renamed the Cruise Tourism Partnership (CTP). She described the development of guidelines on cruise ship announcements, bus routing through James Bay, rules for the horse and carriages, a feedback section to their website, as well as the revised walking maps to downtown.

Servos last spoke to the JBNA in June 2007 to introduce the CTCI process. Like similar best practices initiatives elsewhere, this is intended to be a living document to mitigate the negative impact of tourism on the local community. At that time, a panel drawn from the cruise ship service sector, presented two GVHA staff-developed documents inspired by a best practices document produced by the city of Juneau, Alaska. JBNA members described the draft CTCI as vague expressions of good intention with none of the benchmarks and targets that a best practices document should contain.

Residents were also critical that there was too much reference to motor coaches with not enough consideration of the problems created by the cruise ships themselves. The JBNA Transportation Committee have been working closely with the tour industry to make the current version a best practices document that works for the community.

• We’ve had the presentation. The GVHA has opened up their website to hear from the community. Comments anyone?
• website - http://www.victoriaharbour.org/ctp

GVHA & Traffic

• The GVHA is introducing larger buses with more efficient engines on a revised schedule to reduce the number of bus trips through the neighbourhood. Smaller shuttle buses access Fisherman’s Wharf.
• Cruise Victoria shuttle buses now run on 100% biodiesel fuel.
• A VicPD representative will address enforcement of traffic rules. On-site infractions may result in an operator’s loss of license to operate.
• The GVHA is looking for sites on Dallas Road where horse and carriage operators can pull over to allow vehicular traffic to pass.
• Coaches are temporarily off their designated route due to roadwork on St. Lawrence St (buses now go in and out of town via Douglas St.).

GVHA & the Environment

• There is no discharge of sewage off contemporary ships. Sewage is treated onboard to drinking water standards.
• A large truck carries waste oil products for recycle through James Bay after midnight departures from Ogden Point.

(A speaker noted that ships should access the city’s power grid to reduce smoke drifting over the city on summer evenings. The City should limit late night buses through city streets, and charge a higher levy to offset social costs imposed on the City by ship-related traffic.)

GVHA & Social Issues

• “Good tourism enhances the community - bad tourism impacts the community.” In May 2002 the impact of cruise ships was first registered in the community. The concern then was that the increase from 71 ships to 117 would increase the amount of ship-related traffic beyond the community’s ability to absorb it. This year 215 cruise ships will call into Victoria, up from 212 in 2008.

In his concluding comments to the JBNA, Paul Stavos emphasized the triple bottom line and that the GVHA, and he, were part of the community.

Many in the neighbourhood, particularly those who live with the impacts of the cruise tourism industry on a daily basis during the summer, question if social and environmental costs are truly part of the triple bottom line approach to GVHA planning.

Committee Reports

• The Development Review Committee . will be meeting with the owner of 640 Michigan St. regarding a new proposal.
• One of the basic goals of the Quality of Life (QofL) and Environment Committee is to connect the James Bay community with the City of Victoria Sustainability Framework, most directly with the Framework’s liveability (or quality of life) component, but also indirectly with its ecological integrity, economic vitality, and resiliency components.

Traffic Noise Study

Grant support for a projected JBNA Traffic Noise Study, the basis of Step 2 of the Search for Alternate People Movement Strategies for James Bay has been requested from the City of Victoria and the GVHA. A financial commitment from VIHA has been received, with over $1000 in pledges from James Bay residents. A professionally conducted acoustics study will provide the necessary quantitative measures for policy development.

Parks

• Soil testing is scheduled for Fisherman’s Wharf Park. Residents will have an opportunity to submit comments on the draft management plan prepared by city staff after it is posted on the city web-site. Construction is targeted for late summer or fall.
• The cedar hedge on the south side of Irving Park has been removed because of park misuse and graffiti. The wall of the parking lot will be repaired and painted, leaving an exposed section for a community mural. A new hedge will be planted.
• The Lewis Street Park (Lewis at Luxton) will have additional play elements, an irrigation system, renovated shrubs and plantings and a park identification sign (perhaps serving to replace the ‘poetry pole’). Construction is targeted for late summer or fall.