No hearing date has been set. On Thursday, the City of Victoria said in a statement: “We are confident in our position that council’s decision was reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances. The matter is currently before the courts and we look forward to the hearing to have the matter resolved.” Pt. Ellice filed the suit in January. On Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Catherine Murray allowed Trio to be added to the case as a respondent, similar to the City of Victoria, because of its stake in the outcome. The case revolves around a planned silo on the Trio site where a state-of-the-art cement plant was installed in 2018.
At 773 Cordova Bay Rd., the property is being marketed by Colliers International’s Victoria office as a development site. Under a 1999 rezoning, 110 residential units could be built on 12 acres on the southeast part of the site. The northern 6.79-acre portion was to be used for a mini-storage facility which wasn’t built. Another 7.46 acres is green space on the southwest section and is designated for park use. Tensions have existed for years between neighbours and Trio over issues such as trucks, odour, noise and land use. Trio was founded in 1966 by Bruce McLaren, Colin Blythe and Cy Gillingham, said Bruce’s son, Ian McLaren. His mother, Diane, is company president and brother, Mark, is head of sales. Bruce McLaren and Blythe had been friends since childhood and had always wanted to go into business for themselves, Ian said. Poor health in 1971 prompted Gillingham, who had worked with Blythe, to sell his share to the other partners.