A massive redevelopment plan for Royal Beach has been adopted into the City of Colwood official community plan, following a council meeting on Tuesday.
The plan calls for a revitalization of 133 acres of Royal Bay lands directly off of Metchosin Road, just south of Esquimalt Lagoon.
Seacliff Properties acquired the land from the BC Investment Management Corporation in December 2017, and submitted their plans to Colwood council in May 2019.
That plan has now been approved with a near-unanimous vote, with councillor Cynthia Day the lone dissenting voice.
“It’s not a surprise to anyone that I have some concerns with Royal Bay Beach,” Day said during Tuesday’s meeting.
She went on to voice concerns about developments in Sechelt and West Vancouver causing legal issues.
Her fellow councillors and Mayor Rob Martin did not agree, and the Seacliff Properties proposal is now part of Colwood’s community plan.
Under that plan, Royal Beach could see approximately 2,850 new homes constructed across three new neighborhoods, tentatively named “The Landing,” “The Bluffs,” and “The Headlands.”
The highest-density homes in the Landing would also be accompanied by mixed-use commercial buildings.
In addition, this area, which occupies the central location of Royal Beach, could be a potential future home for a passenger ferry terminal to downtown Victoria.
The medium-density Bluffs neighbourhood would also allow for mixed-use buildings, and/or live-work frontages, while lower-density housing would be built in the Headlands.
Other features in the area could include mixed-use trails, a beachfront off-leash dog park, a paraglide launch area, and picnic and viewpoint areas.
“This is an important milestone for the development,” the City of Colwood said in a statement.
“It is the culmination of a significant amount of planning over the past four years, including studies, community open houses, public meetings and zoning and Official Community Plan considerations. Watch for updates as development plan progress.”
