Public Information meeting, DL2394, Wed April 13 at 7-9 pm

News /

Where Do I send Comments?

This a zoning and land use amendment, comments should be relevant to land use and density in this location. The developer’s survey questions about pickle ball courts and fitness equipment are not relevant to land use planning.

You can email comments to the Senior Planner, Yuli Siao (Yuli.Siao@scrd.ca) and if appropriate include the Area B Elected Director, Lori Pratt (Lori.Pratt@scrd.ca).

The SCRD officially receive the application if it is approved by a vote of the SCRD Board for ‘First Reading’ during a future SCRD Planning meeting.

A public information meeting is scheduled on Wednesday 13th April 2022, to discuss a request to amend the Official Community Plan and Zoning, to allow high-density residential housing on the 17 acre lot adjacent to Turman Road (District Lot 2394).

Application Summary

An application has been submitted to the SCRD for a ‘Zoning and OCP Amendment’. The application has not yet been approved and is the reason for the public information session. The application asks to redesignate the 17 acre DL2394 from current low-density ‘Residential C’ (2 acre lots), to high density ‘Residential A’ (¼ acre lots).  

Proposals include a wastewater plan with 3 options: (i) build a second treatment plant beside the current Square Bay plant (their preferred option); (ii) build one land based sewage plant on the subdivision, to be managed by SCRD; or (iii) build 3 land based sewage treatment plants on the subdivision, to be privately managed.   

Concerns

District Lot 2394 should not be re-zoned to high-density, it was intentionally re-zoned for lower density development (residential C), due to the lot being unsuitable for such a purpose. 

“The Residential C designation represents residential properties with lower density, larger area and less future development potential.”

“The properties are in the Residential C designation due to factors such as location, unstable lands with geotechnical hazards or bedrock waterfront.”

Halfmoon Bay Official Community Plan (OCP), 2014

The lot’s Residential Capability designation of Least Satisfactory is clear from the surface rock and topographical constraints (S3ht, S3h), Official Community Plan Residential Capability map. Years of blasting would be required to develop this lot.

  1. “Rural by Nature“: The Halfmoon Bay Official Community Plan, manages density and clearly states the community vision to preserve the rural nature of Halfmoon Bay (see p. iv), consistently promoting larger lots and limiting the urban-sized subdivisions that sprawled in the 1970/80s. The 1st Goal of the Official Community Plan is to ‘maintain the rural characteristics of the area, reinforced by the low density community’. An amendment to the OCP to change from lowest density lot to highest density strikes at the core of this vision. If approved, this would be the first high density zoning in Halfmoon Bay since the first OCP in 1990, and would set a precedent with ramifications for future development across the community. 
  2. Poor sewage options: Approval of the developer’s first option of a second wastewater treatment plant servicing DL2394 would be a major deviation from the Halfmoon Bay Liquid Waste Management Plan (LWMP) (2006). The intent of the LWMP is to prohibit new wastewater outfall into Halfmoon Bay. This plan is based on a multi-year, multi-agency study with the Coast Guard, Environment Canada and volunteers monitoring fecal coliform counts throughout Halfmoon Bay.  The developer has proposed 2 other options of putting land-based sewage plants on DL2394, these are worst-case scenarios for the existing community. Given the fractured bedrock on the lot, the potential for the sewage water to seep through the fissures and pollute groundwater or reappear downslope on neighboring properties is a serious concern.  This would be especially worrying if the sewage plants are privately managed. It is the community who take on the risk and cost if something goes wrong with this high risk location. 
  3. High risk of storm runoff damage downslope: The compounding impacts of the 2021 heat dome, heavy rainfall and flooding, mean that residents would need an upfront commitment on mitigating the increased water and soil run-off that results from tree clearing and rock blasting.  DL2394 is adjacent to 16 residences and upslope from dozens more properties. Provincial and Regional District representatives (including Area Director, Lori Pratt) have made it clear that existing stormwater regulations are inadequate.  The government authorities involved in approving any high-density development, as well as the developer, must ensure that this does not increase the risk for downslope houses, Truman Road and public drainage. As residents and taxpayers, we need to know:
    1. What studies the SCRD will require before re-zoning is approved to assess and mitigate the risks for existing residences and infrastructure. (These studies should also be vetted by SCRD-retained experts to ensure they are robust and independent.)
    2. Where the liability rests for any subsequent downslope damage, especially given that the developer will not likely be around after the development is completed?
  4. Public amenities not in place for high density: The Truman Rd area is not a designated community hub (see OCP p. 34), is far from the highway, and not well serviced by public transportation, schools and other amenities. Additional high density zoning along Truman Rd would also raise public safety concerns with the neighborhood’s lack of sidewalks, narrow roads and limited visibility.

Environmentally Unsuitable for Density

The proposals include the removal of most of the trees on DL2394 to provide fire protection. This is a remarkable suggestion in an area that is inside the Coastal Douglas-fir bio geoclimatic zone (CDF zone). The area is a designated Old Growth Management Area (map), and described as “one of the largest, intact Coastal Douglas Fir zone forests remaining on the Sunshine Coast” (Land for Nature, 1997). The current low density designation provides a suitable buffer zone from the adjoining high density neighborhood, high-density development is not compatible with the surrounding environment.

Environmentally Important Site and Streams on the Sunshine Coast references the lot in it’s description of the Truman Road Nature Trails forest (Biogeoclimatic Zone: CDFmm)

The Truman Road Nature Trails nomination is 45 ha of Provincial Forest behind the Truman Rd waterfront subdivision. This land falls within a small part of the Sunshine Coast considered to be in the Coastal Douglas Fir biogeoclimatic zone, the zone which includes the Gulf Islands and south-east Vancouver Island. This somewhat drier regional climate, and the site specific characteristics of south aspect, shallow soils over bedrock, and proximity to the sea have combined to produce a fine example of Douglas fir-shore pine-arbutus forest on a part of this land. About 8 ha immediately north of the subdivision sustains only these three tree species. This is open canopy forest interrupted by frequent rock outcrops. Much of this area does not appear to have ever been logged and there is no evidence of forest fire. This forest type is also present on about 2 ha of adjacent private land, within the subdivision to the south, but as yet undeveloped.

Environmentally Important Sites and Streams on the Sunshine Coast (page 90)

Coastal Douglas-fir forests are considered rare and endangered by the BC Ministry of Environment. These forests have the highest diversity of plant species in all of BC, and the highest density of species and ecosystems at risk (271 provincially, 110 federally). A subzone of Coastal Douglas-fir, Moist Maritime Coastal Douglas-fir (CDFmm) is by far the smallest and rarest of ecological zones in BC (Biodiversity BC, 2008).

Resources