On April 27, council debated the possibility of including the recommendation, made by the Advisory Planning Commission (APC), to allow two further community docks or “group moorage facilities” to be built on the shoreline of Cape Roger Curtis alongside the already existing private docks. Mayor Murray Skeels noted that incorporating group moorage on the shore would require another look at the environmental impacts and possible mitigation strategies, and was a discussion best left for another day “probably five years from now.” Council proceeded to vote against the inclusion, but at Thursday evening’s public meeting on Bylaw 381, which bans future dock construction there, council heard the idea proposed once again – this time by Cape on Bowen President Don Ho.
In a press release sent out by the company, Ho states:
We strongly object to Bylaw No. 381 in its current form, if it is passed we would have no choice but be forced to take drastic legal action as four property owners have already been informed by the Province that their applications meet the requirements necessary to build their docks. As a partner in the Bowen Island community we are reluctant to go this route and are proposing a compromise instead.
The compromise the Cape is recommending is that the municipality support the suggestion made by the APC.
In an interview, Ho told The Undercurrent that although he rejected the idea of community docks in 2012, he has changed his mind after having heard from so many Bowen Islanders.
Those purchasers are very upset not that the goal posts are being taken away in the middle of the game, but being taken away altogether.
“I am in a co-operative spirit with the island, and I want to emphasize the spirit of compromise,” said Ho. “I believe the Municipality’s approach is just too aggressive. As far as the purchasers are concerned, they have already complied with all the regulations. Those purchasers are very upset not that the goal posts are being taken away in the middle of the game, but being taken away altogether. I am not as angry as those purchasers.”
On Thursday’s public meeting, Bowen Islander Dennis Vetter said that the only place along the shoreline of Cape Roger Curtis that could accommodate a community dock would be Pebble Beach. When asked where he thought community docks might be appropriate along this shoreline, Ho told The Undercurrent that this would be figured out with the help of our municipal planner.
“This is why I asked, during the meeting, for time to work with your planner to find the best possible locations that will be good for docks,” said Ho.
For Melissa Harrison, who is with the Stop the Docks Campaign, Ho’s suggest compromise is “not realistic, it feels like a distraction.”
Harrison points to comments made by Integrated Planning, the engineering company that worked on Don Ho’s dock and the others on the Cape Roger Curtis shoreline.
“The engineers acknowledged that the docks need major breakwaters for wave protection," says Harrison. "That coast is just not suitable for docks. There is nothing to hold the waves and currents back along that stretch, the docks are right out there in the straight.”Harrison adds if a suitable location for a dock were found on the coast, the Bylaw could be amended for the variance.
“We do land-use amendments for exceptions all the time, a bylaw is not final,” says Harrison. “But having learned as much as I have about this coastline and land, I can not see how the municipality can create a bylaw that is responsible and allows docks.”
