Height doesn’t necessarily equal density, a Simon Fraser University professor warns Esquimalt councillors anticipating a review of the municipality’s Official Community Plan.

Acknowledging local concerns over the 10-storey height recommendation contained in the year-old OCP and how that may determine the future of Esquimalt’s landscape, SFU City Program director Gordon Price suggests the OCP may not need big changes. He noted that low-rise neighbourhoods can actually be more dense than those with high-rise buildings, he adds.

“I wouldn’t respond just to developer desire or for that matter to community neighbourhood desire,” Price said.

Recently Esquimalt council dedicated $50,000 of the 2009 budget to re-examine components of the OCP relating to building heights – although it’ll be up to the new council to officially approve spending the money. The matter came to a head this summer when a 17-storey high rise was proposed on the site of the Esquimalt Legion.

“Official community plans should be taking a longer view and indeed, having certainty over time, having a vision and sticking with it,” Price said. “You want to give people some sense of where you are going and at least enough time for a vision to be realized.”

Esquimalt Residents Association president Beth Burton-Krahn has told the Victoria News the OCP review is a sound decision, adding any changes to the plan need public input.

The review would explore the possible adoption of development cost charges, a component incorporated in most OCPs. Where density lifts sweeten the pot for developers, DCCs divert money back to the community in the form of amenities such as affordable housing or parks.

Height doesn’t necessarily equal more profit for a developer, explained Glen Wilson, president of Victoria’s chapter of the Urban Development Institute.

A taller building may well add density to a project, he said. But there are a number of factors that affect economic feasibility, including materials such as wood-versus-concrete, parking – specifically underground parking – and the lot itself.

Esquimalt’s OCP took two and a half years to create, but the review will only take a few months, said Esquimalt’s director of development, Barbara Snyder. If the new council approves the $50,000 review, public consultation could begin in spring. Municipal staff would aim to have the review completed before council takes its summer recess.

raldous@vicnews.com