News item: Oak Bay home too modern for neighbours' tastes

[gumgum]

Originally Posted by UrbanRail

The same Oak Bay that has a bylaw that doesnt allow outdoor clothes hanging because its too ghetto?

This is a false I'm pretty sure.

[Bob Fugger]

Originally Posted by gumgum

That's it. However they did have an offer that fell through within a week of first going up.
Hey Fugger, I'm going to be naughty and use your past words against you. I swear it was you that claimed to like this one?. Apart from its shape I don't think it fits into the neighbourhood at all. It's a completely different design. Why is this one OK? How much can a house deviate from other homes in the area before it becomes too different?

Personally if the house is designed well and made of good quality materials, I appreciate every house to a certain level. (As long as it's not too big.)

I do like that one, gumgum - I don't care how much flack I take for it being so faux. I think that one is different but fits in better with the neighbourhood because it's more subtle than the Chester house. For example juxtaposed with its neighbours, the house is of a similar size and scale.

But that just lends to my argument that I am OK with different. I am even OK with modern - for example I like that James Bay one because it fits in better with the neighbourhood. The Chester house seems just so imposing and oppresive and the Chandler house looks like a pomo "different just for the sake of being different" effort of Lego and sheet metal.

[Coreyburger]

Originally Posted by gumgum

This is a false I'm pretty sure.

There is no Oak Bay bylaw against hanging clothes.

[Nparker]

I have a feeling that some VV members had their say on this matter on the CHEK news @ 5:00.

[sebberry]

Christ, they want to start a committee to approve designs. Do these people really not have anything more pressing to worry about?

Perhaps they'd be more at home living with a strata...

[David Bratzer]

Originally Posted by Bob Fugger

The Chester house seems just so imposing and oppresive and the Chandler house looks like a pomo "different just for the sake of being different" effort of Lego and sheet metal.

Are you talking about 1810 Chandler? I'm not 100% on this, but I believe that one was built by an architect who then moved into it. I met him briefly once. When you are on a corner lot like him, it's probably not as important for the house to fit in with the rest of the street:

http://g.co/maps/szuba

To get back to the topic of the Oak Bay protest... this is the kind of issue that, ideally, a community association could try to defuse before it got to the stage where people are marching in the streets. I'm curious if the Oak Bay Community Association is involved with this at all?

[UrbanRail]

Originally Posted by gumgum

This is a false I'm pretty sure.

LOL, I hope so =) Someone years ago told me that, and I hoping its just some joke.

[Sparky]

Originally Posted by UrbanRail

LOL, I hope so =) Someone years ago told me that, and I hoping its just some joke.

According to this article laundry can hang out to dry in Oak Bay.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimesc...a-f57a90c35ba4

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Sparky

According to this article laundry can hang out to dry in Oak Bay.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimesc...a-f57a90c35ba4

You won't find a clothes line in the Uplands, it's just not done.

Otherwise lets have some photos of O B clotheslines.

[Sparky]

While I was searching the Oak Bay website for clothes line bylaws I stumbled across a bylaw that forbids funeral home from operating in Oak Bay.

I find that a little rude.

You can't say goodbye to someone in a municipality where they may have lived there whole life? You have to ship the cold dead body to Saanich or elsewhere for cremation?

[sebberry]

That's why everyone is so old in Oak Bay, they're not allowed to die there

[skeptic]

Originally Posted by Sparky

While I was searching the Oak Bay website for clothes line bylaws I stumbled across a bylaw that forbids funeral home from operating in Oak Bay.

I find that a little rude.

You can't say goodbye to someone in a municipality where they may have lived there whole life? You have to ship the cold dead body to Saanich or elsewhere for cremation?

You certainly are easily offended. There is probably a law that forbids the operation of a garbage incinerator next to your residence. Are you also offended that you can't say goodbye to your garbage a little closer to home? And no, I'm not comparing old folks with garbage, simply pointing out that your complaint is rather silly.

[VicHockeyFan]

If it's any consolation, I've buried a couple peeps in Oak Bay.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Sparky

While I was searching the Oak Bay website for clothes line bylaws I stumbled across a bylaw that forbids funeral home from operating in Oak Bay.

I find that a little rude.

You can't say goodbye to someone in a municipality where they may have lived there whole life? You have to ship the cold dead body to Saanich or elsewhere for cremation?

Also no goats, livestock or abattoirs.

[PulpVictor]

I just saw a new piece regarding this issue on CTV. Astonishing that we would even consider allowing government to step in, yet again, regarding what we want to build on our own land (well, maybe not our own land...really queen's land). We have so much regulation, so many layers of government intrusion (and we pay for it). All of those people who came into their properties long before they became completely unaffordable to most, now dictating what we build, is inherently un-democratic. I appreciated the comment about landed immigrants...that's funny.

[VicHockeyFan]

And new group has formed, called Oak Bay Watch.

[gumgum]

There is a Facebook page with a whopping 13 likes: https://www.facebook.com/oakbaywatchdog

About

Oak Bay Watch is a community based organization dedicated to stopping new house overdevelopment in our residential neighbourhoods and preserving and protecting the natural environment and rights of our neighbours.

Description
Oak Bay's Official Community Plan aims to "reflect a vision of Oak Bay as a
community that will continue to provide a stable, secure and
healthy living environment that respects and complements the
attractive natural setting of the Municipality." This vision is being threatened by the development of large modern 'box' houses that do not honour the character of Oak Bay. This is not about opposing all new housing development as there are several new houses that are completely modern but add to the character of Oak Bay.

[gumgum]

There is a photo of somebody's new house on there. I don't know if it's the house in question.

Talk about bullying. They need to get a life.

[pherthyl]

Originally Posted by gumgum

There is a Facebook page with a whopping 13 likes: https://www.facebook.com/oakbaywatchdog

LOL. Somehow I don't think Facebook is the right way to mobilize the average Oak Bay resident.

[aastra]

Overuse/misapplication of the term "monster house" deserves mention in that thread about Victoria's unique culture.

[G-Man]

What is wrong with that house? Seems decent.

[aastra]

...a community based organization dedicated to stopping new house overdevelopment...

and

...This is not about opposing all new housing development...

So development isn't the problem? Overdevelopment is the problem?

Also, they seem to be blurring "natural environment" and "natural setting" with issues of architectural style/form, which is confusing.

[gumgum]

They can't expect people to conform to their ideals when they are so vague and open to interpretation.

Regardless, I can't help thinking about how unwelcome these new owners must be feeling right now, all because their tastes don't match that of what appears to actually be only a small minority of neighbours.

[Mike K.]

I see the comments for that photo depicting a "monster house," as Oak Bay Watchdog puts it, are positive and two individuals seem to be wondering what all the fuss is about.

Oak Bay Watchdog says: An example of the 'monster' houses that are being built in Oak Bay.

Two comments (...and the only two so far) say:

Er. This one was a reno and it used the exact same footprint as the old house. The new design is a huge improvement on the old one. I think it is fantastic.

Looks no bigger than the one beside it.

Oak Bay Watchdog might end up shooting themselves in the foot...

[Holden West]

But that ideal ratio was never a tradition, was it? A century ago OB had large estates surrounded by hectares of land. Slowly, lots were subdivided and everything from tiny cottages to massive Rattenbury/James mansions appeared. Hasn't it always been random without any sustained perfect ratio between lot and house?