–Chris and Shirley Spencer

This is in response to the Lions Club proposal for John Phillips Memorial Park. The first issue is the park is deemed to be underused by the town council. The second issue is the Lions club raising funds to build their clubhouse by having businesses in their building. The third issue is the impact of these businesses on the residents around the park. The fourth issue is a future plan for a permanent stage

The Sooke Council believes the JPMP is underused, I can’t disagree with that. Right now there are 40 households backing directly onto the park. What Sooke council fails to mention is that later this year 77 apartments plus commercial space will be built on the old clubhouse backing directly on the park. A restaurant is planned for part of the commercial space, this will attract more people to the park. In the near future, Notts Brook will build 127 households directly backing onto or very close to the park. This plan was approved by the council in 2018. That will make at least 244 households backing directly onto or very close to the park. In a few years, the park will be very busy without the Lions Club or the municipality doing anything. This population growth will make it a park/residential area!

The Sooke Lions club plans to charge rent for a daycare centre, 300 person facility for weddings and family parties, industrial kitchen, video conference centre, concession.

Issues and flaws with Lions rental plan. Every community needs more daycare, don’t take up precious green space when there is lots of other option available. There will be a restaurant in the commercial part of the new apartments, making the Lions Club concessions repetitive. The banquet hall will have loud indoor music. Intoxicated party goers in the park making lots of noise. Then around 2 o’clock in the morning, most of them will get in their cars and leave. This will affect all of the households in the park/residential area!!! What an incredibly poor plan to raise money in a park/residential area.

There should be no permanent stage in the park, it is just another eyesore. The Sooke Flats has done very well with a temporary stag, all you need is electricity. Don’t inflict all the multi-day music events on one park/residential area. Keep multi-day music events in different areas, spread out the excessive noise.

The Lions Club is a wonderful group of people doing good things in Sooke, I applaud them. In this case, they are missing their original mission and spending their valuable time and effort in raising millions of dollars for this building and a parking lot. It appears that our misguided town council is pushing real hard for this to happen.

Chris and Shirley Spencer

Related

• Letter: Sooke Council failed to sufficiently publicize Lion’s clubhouse proposal
• Letter: Group opposing Lions clubhouse at John Phillips Memorial Park to protest, September 4
• Letter: Underhanded negative voting re Lions Club construction on John Phillips Park is unethical
• Letter: As Sooke shifts from rural to urban, parkland must be preserved
• Letter: Sooke Lions proposal is sensitive to green space, report completed per requirements

Additional information

If you approve of the District of Sooke leasing a portion of John Phillips Memorial Park to the Sooke Lions, no action is needed.

If you are opposed to the District leasing a portion of John Phillips Memorial Park to the Sooke Lions, you may submit an Elector Response Form to the District of Sooke Municipal Hall (2205 Otter Point Road) during the AAP period of 8:30 a.m. August 12 to September 15, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. Again, no early or late submissions can be received. The originally signed response form must be returned to the Municipal Hall – email and faxed Electoral Response forms will not be accepted.

• Read the DOS announcement here.
• Read about the Alternative Approval Process (AAP) and Elector Response form here.
• Go directly to the form here.
• You can also get an Electoral Response form at the District of Sooke Municipal Hall, located at 2205 Otter Point Road, Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. excluding statutory holidays.