Re: Caught between a cow and a hard place (News, March 27)
I fully sympathize with the owners of residences around the Albergs property on Mt. Douglas Cross Road. The Albergs appear to know what the process is but are trying to short circuit it.
They firstly need to remove the property from the ALR. Removing it from the ALR does not mean they can no longer “farm” the property. It will still be agricultural land, just not restricted to agricultural purposes as is the case at present.
Once removed, Saanich can then allow rezoning. Saanich would be silly not to allow rezoning in this instance since all the surrounding properties have been rezoned.
Mr. Alberg does not want to invest any more money for rezoning. If he had followed the correct procedures to start with, he would be further ahead and have saved money in the long run.
On the other hand, why did Saanich staff accept rezoning applications from the Albergs when the land was in the ALR? They should know better and should not have accepted the applications until the land was removed from the ALR.
Harry Felsing
Saanich