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Saanich’s annual report spells out ambitious climate change goals

100 – 5,000 – 35 – 69. These are some just of the more interesting figures found in Saanich’s 2016 Annual Report , whose draft is available for public review until June 19.
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Saanich residents can comment about the District’s 2016 annual report until Monday, June 19, 2017 when Saanich council will consider it for endorsement.

100 – 5,000 – 35 – 69. These are some just of the more interesting figures found in Saanich’s 2016 Annual Report, whose draft is available for public review until June 19.

According to the report, Saanich “supports moving towards 100 per cent renewable energy” with several community and corporate several initiatives planned for 2017. “The focus for 2017 will be on community and corporate initiatives related to improving building energy and efficiency and moving towards 100 per cent renewable energy,” the report read.

This direction reflects a motion council approved in March after it had received a report from the British Columbia Sustainable Energy Association (BCSEA) that called on council to adopt the goal of using 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050.

Council unanimously approved the group’s recommendation following input from a variety of speakers. As such, Saanich’s decision sends a powerful signal as it represents the largest municipality on Vancouver Island. This said, the public also heard at that time that Saanich has been failing to meet its current goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) said to be responsible for climate change.

Overall, Saanich emitted nearly 410,000 tons of GHGs in 2010. The target for 2036 calls for community-wide emissions of just over 176,000 tons.

The report calls for significant changes in the way Saanich generates energy, among other measures. Consider the number of residential solar energy systems. While the report identifies the existence of 72 residential solar energy systems in 2016, it calls for at least 1,000 such systems by 2020 — two-and-a-half years from now.

Other goals are equally ambitious. According to the report, an estimated 149 electric vehicles roamed the streets of Saanich. Targets call for at least 5,000 by 2020.

This said, some measures are already underway, with results expected soon. For example, Saanich expects a significant decrease in municipal GHG emissions by replacing an inefficient heating system with a new high-efficiency air-source heat pump and condensing boiler system at the Gordon Head Recreation Centre.

“The heat pump was commissioned at the beginning of 2017 and is expected to achieve significant energy savings, helping to reduce the corporate GHG emissions by approximately seven per cent, a savings of 400 tonnes of CO2 annually,” it read.

Overall, the report spells out a goal of cutting municipal building emissions by almost 50 per cent from the 2016 figure of 2,245 tons to 1,284 tons, if not less, by 2020. Such a rate of change would be significant. It took Saanich eight years to cut those very same emissions from 2,567 in 2007 to 2,205 in 2015.

The report also reiterated a goal to change the tax ratio revenue, away from residential property taxes towards businesses, while acknowledging failure in meeting commercial revenue goals.

The report states that Saanich wanted to generate at least 23 per cent of its property tax revenues from businesses. Saanich, however, fell short of that goal with 22.8 per cent. This acknowledgment comes after several councillors have called for changes in the ratio between revenues from residential and commercial properties.

“Currently Saanich’s tax breakdown is 23 per cent business and 76 per cent residential,” said Coun. Colin Plant, after council had agreed to raise property tax revenues by 3.53 per cent. “We need to grow the former number. While Saanich is and will likely always be a residential municipality with commercial villages, I believe it needs to grow that 23 per cent [figure] by a few percentage points.”

Accordingly, Saanich wants to increase the percentage share of commercial, industrial and institutional area in Saanich to at least 35 per cent, it not greater. The current figure as of 2015 is 28.3 per cent.

Plant’s demand that Saanich should attract more businesses to shift the burden away from residential taxpayers appears against new figures that show Saanich failed to meet its revenue goals from commercial and industrial building permits.

Whereas the total value of these permits had jumped to nearly $52 million in 2015 from $16.6 million in 2014, they dropped to $28.5 million in 2016 – some $11.5 million below the stated goal of $40 million.

Turning to transportation, the report finds that Saanich remains a community whose residents continue to rely on traditional automobiles. According to the report, public transit riders made up seven per cent of travellers in 2011. The target for 2020 calls for 8.7 per cent. The share of walking as a method of transportation actually dropped from 9.1 per cent in 2007 to seven per cent in 2011. The 2020 target calls for at least 12 per cent. The share of cycling rose to four per cent in 2011 from 2.4 per cent in 2007. The 2020 target calls for at least 5.3 per cent.

Of interest is the number of vehicle collisions involving bicycles in light of several high-profile incidents involving cyclists, including one last month on rural Prospect Lake Road. It reached 69 in 2016, according to the report, which estimates that this year’s figure will be 70.



Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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