PENINSULA
NEWS REVIEW
Seniors in focus
Gridlocked
The Peninsula News Review presents a new focus on seniors, appearing each month; it starts on pages 10 & 11
A traffic movement study in the Town of Sidney isn’t recommending many big changes - for now, page 3
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Friday, March 8, 2013
BIA gets by counter petition Sidney council has final say on future of business improvement area bylaw Steven Heywood News staff
Another hurdle down — one more barrier to cross. A proposed business improvement area (BIA) for businesses in downtown Sidney is a step closer to reality, as an alternate approvals process failed to garner enough opposition to thwart the idea. Town of Sidney chief administrative officer Randy Humble reported this week that the counter-petition did not hit the 50 per cent threshold of opposition that would have stopped the BIA in its tracks. With only 29.9 per cent of business property owners — representing 38.8 per cent of downtown commercial assessed value — stating they were opposed to a BIA, the measure passes. Now, the proposal faces town council. On Monday, March 11, Sidney politicians have the final say on whether the BIA will proceed. Or at least, they will start the debate over how each will vote on the proposal. In moving the BIA to the town’s alternate approval process in January, most of council was supportive, with those inclined to be on the fence noting that they would let it fall to business owners to have the final say on the initiative. A BIA in Sidney will set into motion a new entity, consisting of a group of business property owners and a levy charged ($1.22 per $1,000 of assessed value) to each commercial operation. That will raise an estimated $250,000, to be spent on local marketing initiatives to help bring more customers and visitors into the downtown core. Angus Matthews, a member of the Sidney Business Development Group that brought the BIA to the community and to town council, said the result is good news. PLEASE SEE: BIA is about telling Sidney’s story, page 5
Devon MacKenzie/News staff
Brentwood Elementary student Kyla Mason holds a new dwarf apple tree upright while Stelly’s Secondary student Noah Morgan makes a few adjustments in preparation of filling in the hole. Turn to page 12 for the story.
Activist group sets sights on deer Vancouver-based Lifeforce calling for Central Saanich to revisit decision Devon MacKenzie News staff
A Vancouver-based ecology and animal rights foundation is using an online petition program to encourage the District of Central Saanich to ban the killing of deer in the municipality. Lifeforce Foundation, guided by Founding Director Peter Hamilton, started the petition titled ‘Say No to B.C. Deer Bounty and Killings’ earlier this week on the website change. org. Hamilton said the online petition is designed to encourage
the district to be respectful of wildlife and to find solutions and alternatives to killing deer who are harming crops, something they’ve petitioned in other communities in the province like Invermere and Cranbrook. “This issue comes down to one question which is does one have to kill off the wildlife to prevent crops from being damaged?” said Hamilton.
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PLEASE SEE: Quick answer to overpopulation, page 4