GOLDSTREAM Dance crazy
Royal Bay sets the stage for dance this month Page A10
NEWS GAZETTE
NEWS: New interchange plan makes room for rail /A3 COMMUNITY: Still playing sweet music at 100 /A7 SPORTS: Rugby player’s dream coming true /A20
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
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www.goldstreamgazette.com
Reprimanded SD62 teacher compelled to complete course Katherine Engqvist
The City of Colwood is working towards adopting bylaws that would control the maximum height of retaining walls built by developers. The extent of the massive wall fronting this Latoria Road development is seen here from Wishart Road.
News Gazette staff
Rock walls at issue in Colwood Council looks to address future of retaining walls in the City Arnold Lim News Gazette staff
Colwood is hoping to keep more big walls from going up. In an effort to allow the municipality to regulate massive retaining walls in developments, the City is crafting a bylaw that would limit the height of such structures and
require developers to obtain a permit for their construction. “This is consistent with what other communities have, we’re just catching up,” said Coun. Gordie Logan. “It allows the municipality to regulate and protect neighbourhoods from overbearing retaining walls.” At a council meeting on Jan. 25, council approved a draft recommendation to be forwarded to residents and stakeholders for consultation. Logan pointed to one wall near the corner of Latoria and Wishart roads as one that sticks
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out “like a sore thumb,” saying it is aesthetically inconsistent with the rest of Colwood. Some area residents have even wondered about the potential safety hazards of living near such walls in the event of an earthquake or other natural disaster. “That type of retaining wall is something we are trying to avoid (in future), if at all possible,” Logan said. “Or at least give the City the tools to be able to regulate and work with the developer in designing (them).” Retaining walls are often built by developers to hold back soil
or rocks, typically in areas with elevation and steep slopes where construction happens at a higher point. While it is still early in the process of creating a new bylaw, Logan said he hopes the proposal will move along relatively quickly, with a public open house to be scheduled sometime before the matter is brought to the City’s planning and land-use committee. “This is a great move for Colwood and goes to resolve a number of issues moving forward,” he said. alim@goldstreamgazette.com
PlEASE SEE: Teacher, Page A4
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Katherine Engqvist / News Gazette staff
Cultural sensitivity training is in the future for one Sooke School District teacher as part of discipline handed down for racist remarks made at Edward Milne secondary in Sooke. “This is very out of character for all of our employees,” said District superintendent Jim Cambridge. When asked if the matter had been dealt with to the satisfaction of the District, he said, “we wish the issue had never occurred.” In mid-December of last year, Matthew Shaun Pell signed a consent resolution agreement with the British Columbia Commissioner for Teacher Regulations agreeing to a reprimand under the Teachers Act. In 2014, when Pell was teaching a Grade 11 math class at Edward Milne community school in Sooke, he repeatedly referred to a student, whose family background is Middle Eastern and Muslim, as “Taliban.” The consent resolution agreement states that he would also “make comments such as ‘don’t make her angry otherwise she’ll bomb you’ or ‘she’s going to blow everything up.’”