CAO shuffle
NEWS: Privacy watchdog probes Saanich spyware /A3 ARTS: Photography exhibition opens at AGGV /A21 SPORTS: Blue Jags bested in b-ball tourney /A24
Retired Campbell River city manager joins Saanich Page A11
SAANICHNEWS Friday, January 23, 2015
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Big backyards blamed in home value spikes Travis Paterson News staff
Neighbours along a Burnside-area street are bracing for steep property tax bills after their property assessments jumped by tens of thousands of dollars this year. Myrtle Lockhart, who lives in the 3200-block of Albion Rd., said the value for her 102-yearold house spiked $61,000 this year, a 12 per cent jump from her $502,000 assessment in 2014. “We’re going to be hammered with a tax increase and I’m not going to take it sitting down,” said Lockhart, who lost her husband Bruce to cancer just two months ago. Lockhart said neighbours along the entire street have seen similar increases to mostly their land values, but the reasons behind those increases have left Lockhart confused. “If all of Saanich had gone up, maybe I could understand that, but (it looks like) they’ve picked a certain area and slammed the hell out of it. When I call B.C. Assessment, I get a lot of answers that I don’t understand,” she said. Capital Region assessor Reuben Danakody said the rising value of a deep lot, such as Lockhart’s, is a natural market correction in a land-locked region. “The availability of quarter-acre lots within city limits is becoming scarce,” he said. “You see reconfigurations of lots close to downtown because land value is so high, and that’s driven by the market place.” Burnside isn’t the only pocket too see a localized spike in pricing. Mike Weirmier, in the 4200-block of Cedar Hill Rd. in Gordon Head told Saanich News his assessment spiked $100,000 this year to $660,000 ($61,000 for his 14,700 sq. ft. lot and $39,000 for his home).
Submitted photo/U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class John Hetherington/Released
Rumbling and grumbling Residents along east-facing waterfront properties in Greater Victoria continue to be disrupted by rumbling from Boeing EA-18G Growler jet take-offs and landings (pictured above) at Whidbey Island’s Ault Field across the Juan de Fuca Strait. The U.S. Navy is completing an environmental impact report as it plans to increase by 36 the number of Growlers assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129 at the naval air station by 2018. See Page A7 for the story.
PlEASE SEE: Density pushes prices up, Page A3
Cordova Bay Executive Home 5092 Clutesti Street $1,089,000 MLS 345184
RE/MAX Camosun
Uplands Estate with Pool 3075 Devon Road $1,495,000 MLS 345317
250.220.5061
2 Bed/2 Bath Gorge Condo #301-2900 Orillia Street $239,900 MLS 344989
www.preferredhomes.ca
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