PENINSULA
NEWS REVIEW
Don’t drink and drive
Sidney to piggyback growth
Black Press C O M M U N I T Y
N E W S
M E D I A
ONLY 7 Days left til XMAS!
Local students are asking drivers to think ahead and not drink and drive, pages 16 & 17
Regional economic development plan will have spin-offs, says mayor, page 3 Friday, December 18, 2015
HURRY!
Collecting Cash & Food Items! See Pg. 3
Watch for breaking news at www.peninsulanewsreview.com
$11 million affordable project back Society seeking thousands in waived fees as they plan 56 workforce units in Sidney Steven Heywood News staff
Affordable housing is back on the table in Sidney as the municipality considers waiving thousands of dollars in fees and taxes to accommodate a proposed 56-unit downtown apartment building. The Greater Victoria Rental Development Society (GVRDS) is eyeing three lots on Fourth Street across from the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans Association building. They propose to build, at a cost of around $11 million, a five-storey building tentatively called The Sidney on Fourth. More than half “We are confident of its residential units will be offered at below market this proposal meets rents. GVRDS Executive Director Alanna Holroyd the local need for says in order to maintain affordable housing.” those low rents now and in the future, they are ask– Alanna Holroyd ing Sidney council to drop development and permit fees, as well as grant them 10 years of amnesty from residential taxes. The commercial portion of the structure on the ground floor would still be subject to municipal taxation. Holroyd told council Monday they need those exemptions — totalling around $173,000 in fees and an unknown amount in taxes — to help them secure financing for the project and to ensure that the below market rental units stay that way. “We are confident this proposal meets the local need for affordable housing,” she said during a presentation to council. “(The units) will cost less than existing units, and there are so few of them that exist right now.” She said the mix of smaller apartments are being designed for individuals or families that, combined, make less than $65,000 a year. PleAse see: GVRDS returns to Sidney with second try, page 4
Steven Heywood/News staff
Sandra Pettinger and Dr. Aisha Cheng of Peninsula Lifetime Eyecare Centre hold two of the 30 turkeys their office donated to the Sidney Lions Food Bank. Food Bank Executive Director Bev Elder, centre, says it’s the biggest donation of turkeys they have received, ever.
Hamper program gets gobblin’
Peninsula Lifetime Eyecare comes up with largest turkey donation Steven Heywood News staff
Thirty — it’s the number of the most turkeys ever donated at one time to the Sidney Lions Food Bank. The donors, Peninsula Lifetime EyeCare Centre in Sidney, pulled it off
in only two weeks or so, after promoting a food-raising effort this month among their staff and clients. Dr. Aisha Cheng says her partner at the Centre, Dr. Mark Bourdeau, came up with the idea after driving by the food bank and witnessing a long lineup of people there to register for the
annual Christmas hamper program. Bourdeau says he arrived at his office at Fifth and Bevan and came up with a plan to help. Little did he realize how successful the idea would be. PleAse see: Food bank donations low, page 4
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