Capital Daily for Thursday, July 16

Council gave unanimous rezoning approval this week to Esquimalt Village Cohousing, the township's first co-housing project. The plan is a six-storey, 34-unit building near Esquimalt and Fernhill roads, financed and built by the people who'll live in it.

The design leans hard into shared living. The entire first floor is common space, including a 364-square-foot communal kitchen, lounges, a workshop, and a children's playroom, plus a gym, gardens, and a roof deck. Architect Scott Kennedy told council it's modelled on Vancouver's Little Mountain co-housing, and that smaller individual homes work when residents pool the rest.

Eleven households have committed so far, with more expressing interest. The project replaces two fourplexes at 1140 and 1148 Esquimalt Rd., and the developer has filed a relocation plan for the four households living there now. Construction is expected to begin next June.

Council had a busy housing week beyond co-housing. It also voted to cap short-term rentals at 90 nights, allowing licensed residents to rent out homes and suites where such rentals are currently banned outright. And the federal government confirmed permanent military housing is coming to CFB Esquimalt, with work on the North Naden project starting this month.

Firefighters on Mayne Island have doused three unattended campfires in the last 10 days, the most recent on July 13, on an island where all outdoor burning has been banned since May 3 and the fire danger rating sits at Extreme.

The timing is the worry. BC Wildfire Service operations director Cliff Chapman told a July 14 news conference the province could be dealing with a significant wildfire event within 24 hours, with dry lightning and wind forecast across most of B.C. from Wednesday afternoon into Friday. Dry lightning arrives with little or no rain, so there's no moisture to slow a fresh start before crews can reach it.

Conditions on the ground here are already stretched. East Vancouver Island, from Sayward down to Greater Victoria, is in a Level 4 drought, the second-most severe on the province's scale, and stream flows in some Island areas are at the 10th percentile of normal or lower. As of Thursday noon, a campfire ban covers most of the Coastal Fire Centre, including the Gulf Islands.

On Mayne, propane fire pits are still allowed. Anything else, the fire service says, call 911.