City of Victoria explores heritage designation for James Bay neighbourhood

“City of Victoria explores heritage designation for James Bay neighbourhood

The City of Victoria is exploring a heritage designation for the James Bay neighbourhood after Victoria’s mayor spoke to council about the weighted responsibility carried by James Bay residents who play host to the city’s major events due to its downtown proximity.

Mayor Marianne Alto put the motion to council this week saying she was “compelled by a number of representations from the community speaking to the unique situation that is part of the James Bay reality.”

She says residents have carried the responsibility as host to numerous major events in the city.

“They are somewhat isolated from a transportation perspective. They certainly demanded a high degree of patience around so many special events that occur there from races and festivals to the offloading of cruise ship passengers to their unique cultural history as the original colonial neighbourhood,” she says.

Coun. Matt Dell seconded the motion to have staff examine the implications of a designation for the neighbourhood, but his reasons differed slightly from Alto’s.

While appreciating the uniqueness and history of James Bay, Dell also spoke to the need for housing to be constructed in a way that incentivizes community.

“The affordability and housing shortage crisis is making life difficult for many Victorians,” he said, adding that despite this, “housing alone is not enough to build a thriving, healthy, community-oriented city.”

He further recognized James Bay’s place in Victoria’s history as the first area to be developed in the city.

“Of course this settler-colonial history means there’s a unique and important indigenous history that we’ve often neglected to tell and that needs to be part of any considerations,” he adds.

In regards to its uniqueness, Dell references the need to preserve its history.

“Emily Carr’s main residence, the house of all sorts, still sits in James Bay as an undesignated home owned by a private individual,” he says.

“This home has Emily Carr’s work painted right on the ceiling and the attic and still is not protected. I know there’s many homes in James Bay that have similar designations and histories like that.”

Dell doesn’t see the designation as a means to stop or freeze development, but as a layer to add on for considerations throughout the development process.

Timing aligns with city’s review of Heritage Program

Alto adds that exploring the designation is timely as city staff are already working on updating the City’s Heritage Program. The work includes re-examining and refreshing heritage policies, programs, regulations and bylaws.

Since this work is already underway, Alto says staff have said adding James Bay to the review “does not add a tremendous burden.”

Alto and Dell’s motion was supported by Couns. Marg Gardiner and Chris Coleman, asking staff to come back with a review of the implications to adding James Bay to the Heritage Program.

A HCA (Heritage Conversation Area) is designated by a municipality to help protect and conserve the heritage resources of the location or space. It does this by creating a framework of policies and guidelines that oversees changes to existing structures and new developments.”