Rezoning

History

The rezoning of the Olympic View lands in Colwood and Langford for a mix of single- and multi-family homes and commercial uses was first approved in 1997. At that time, Veteran’s Memorial Parkway had yet to be built and much of the adjacent land had not been developed. The area was still very rural in character and heavily treed with second- and third-growth forest. Traffic on the nearby 2-lane roads was light.

One of the defining characteristics of the proposal was then, and remains today, the preservation of Olympic View’s natural landscape and ecosystem as a benefit to the wider community and a valuable asset to prospective residents. The original design guidelines for the site enjoined designers and builders of new homes to work carefully and in harmony with the complex topography, rock outcrops and existing mature forest to maintain a distinctive and secluded natural character.

Over the last 20 years, the Olympic View concept plan has been refined and improved. The City of Colwood’s site-adaptive design requirements for new development have caught up with the ambitious goals of the 1997 proposal. Careful stewardship of Olympic View’s natural character continues to be important to both the community and the developer.

In the intervening 24 years nearby higher density development and its site clearing, and higher traffic volumes from the completion of Veteran’s Memorial Parkway through to Latoria have dramatically changed the character of the Olympic View context. With their fresh modern architecture set carefully within nature with generous treed buffers to the neighbouring streets and properties, these first two multifamily buildings will exemplify the original vision for Olympic View and will form a gateway to a special neighbourhood long in the making.