Saanichton Village Design Plan

The core of Saanichton Village now has an official Design Plan that will help shape the design for redevelopment of buildings, public spaces, and transportation routes for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles over the long term.

“This plan provides a roadmap for redevelopment that will create more people spaces, emphasize the urban forest and offer a more walkable design,” said Central Saanich Mayor Ryan Windsor.

“The official Design Plan for Saanichton Village is extensive and exciting and I look forward to the positive direction of the plan,” said Saanichton Village Association President Judy Binder. “Preserving the village feel is very important for the residents of Saanichton.”

The District began the plan in 2019 with community consultation and studies; the early work revealed the core is characterized by car-centric development with limited green space and public spaces for gathering. Public feedback reflected a sense of pride in the community along with a strong desire to protect and enhance qualities such as green space and walkability.

“Working with stakeholders, residents and business has been a very positive experience,” says Windsor. “The community was very appreciative of this project and recognized the need for it.”

The design provides a framework for creating a vibrant, compact, walkable, mixed-use village, through policies, guidelines and an implementation strategy. The Saanichton Village Design Plan will inform development applications within Saanichton, and be integrated into the Official Community Plan as part of the OCP Review Project that just began and is runs until 2022.

Highlights of the Saanichton Village Design Plan

• The plan provides a 30-year vision for the Saanichton Village core.
• The plan’s proposed policies and guidelines will guide private and public investment and redevelopment.
• The plan envisions a compact, people-focused Village with more green spaces, public gathering spaces and pedestrian-oriented design.
• The plan calls for a range of multi-use, multi-storey buildings (three to five storeys) with an emphasis on street-level storefronts and a residential units above.
• Off-street parking (underground or at the rear of buildings) would minimize impacts on the pedestrian realm.
• Incorporate permeable surfacing and trees to manage rainwater, provide shade and provide urban habitat.

“The village has a strong community invested in it, and it will all of us working together to coordinate redevelopments with the vision, and improve the core for the future,” said Windsor.

The Saanichton Village Design Plan is being presented to Council on Monday, November 16, 2020.

The District is doing its part to avoid public gatherings, all Council meetings are being broadcast live here. If you wish to speak or make a submission to Council, you can email municipalhall@csaanich.ca, call 250-652-4444 or deliver via the drop box at the front door prior to 12:00 noon on the day of the meeting. Questions to Council will be placed under correspondence for action.

The draft SVDP provides a framework for creating a vibrant, compact, walkable, mixed-use village, through policies, guidelines and an implementation strategy. The Saanichton Village Design Plan will inform development applications within Saanichton, and be integrated into the Official Community Plan as part of the OCP Review Project.

The fourth and final phase of the project, 'Implementation' will occur as the SVDP is incorporated into the OCP and other municipal operational procedures are updated. The draft SVDP includes an implementation strategy identifying action steps into those that are ongoing, for the short term, or for the medium to long term, and a financial strategy summarizing various funding methods.

At the October 19 Council meeting the following resolution was passed "That the Saanichton Village Design Plan be considered for funding in the 2021- 2025 municipal budget and grant or external funding opportunities be identified during that discussion", which may advance implementation of the identified action steps.

You can view the report here

For more than a year, we've been working with stakeholders and consulting the community while we create a design plan for Saanichton Village. The plan will help shape the design for buildings, public spaces, and transportation routes for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles--guiding future developments in the area to support a well-planned neighbourhood.

Highlights of the Saanichton Village Design Plan

• The plan provides a 30-year vision for the Saanichton Village core.
• The plan’s proposed policies and guidelines will guide private and public investment and redevelopment.
• The plan envisions a compact, people-focused Village with more green spaces, public gathering spaces and pedestrian-oriented design. The village at the moment is characterized by car-centric development.
• The plan calls for a range of multi-use, multi-storey buildings (three to five storeys) with an emphasis on street-level storefronts and a residential units above.
• Off-street parking (underground or at the rear of buildings) would minimize impacts on the pedestrian realm.
• Incorporate permeable surfacing and trees to manage rainwater, provide shade and provide urban habitat.

Providing Input

You are invited to provide input to staff and Council. Due to COVID-19 our typical procedures for input have been modified. Please email comments by September 30, 2020, to: planning@csaanich.ca, or send by mail: Planning Department, District of Central Saanich, 1903 Mt Newton Cross Road, Saanichton, BC V8M 1N3.

You can view the plan here. Please share your feedback with us by emailing planning@csaanich.ca by September 30.

We will take community feedback to Council when they review the plan later this fall.

The open house scheduled for Wednesday, January 15, 2020, is being rescheduled do to the snowy and icy conditions. A new date will be set for the open house soon.

If you haven't subscribed for updates on this project, you can do so on the right hand side of the page and you will get an email when the new date is set.

If you missed the engagement opportunities so far, please feel free to email: planning@csaanich.ca

This week we're meeting with stakeholders and wrapping up the first phase of engagement. From here, a set of scenarios will be developed for a public gallery in January which will be open to the public and the corresponding online survey will allow residents to share feedback on the directions generated from the first phase.

Please stay tuned for January 2020 engagement dates.

Join us in the Spelt's parking lot to talk about your vision for the village, including ideas for improvements, transportation solutions, and environmental enhancement. Saturday, September 21 from noon to 2 pm.

Thank you to everyone who was able to stop in at the Ideas Fair and talk with us about Saanichton's village core. The conversations were interesting, positive and exciting!

If you're interested in seeing some of the ideas generated and feedback received, please see our Photo Gallery.

A background report on the project is also online.

If you missed us, we will be out on the streets of the village core on Sept 21 from noon to 2 pm and Sept 25 from 3-5 pm. Locations to be posted here soon!

Following public engagement in Central Saanich, we publish a What We Heard Report so you can see the collective feedback of participants.