DEAR EDITOR:
Over the last three years, Bowen Island Municipality has granted property owners at 1160 Ecclestone Road a covenant agreement for various structures built on adjacent public road right-of-way, including: a septic tank and 20 metres of pipes; 520 square feet of a guest house and 21 feet of a staircase leading to the beach, plus a variance for enlarging the footprint for the main house. Uncovenanted intrusions on the ROW remain for an underground rainwater drainage system. And now for the finale: a private dock variance granted to build a 121.7 foot dock in provincial jurisdiction. This is hardly the rallying cry of a disadvantaged and ill-treated victim.
“Unique hardship property?”
Please. These covenants and variances are giving the residents enormous enduring and significant benefits in what clearly amounts to a very generous gift from the municipality and the public.
And now to clear up a few points: Ecclestone Beach has been visited and enjoyed by the Bowen Island community since before the First World War. Last fall, Ecclestone was re-designated as a “coastal viewpoint,” then additionally, at the insistence of the current property owners, a “no public access” municipal sign was erected.
It has been a neighbourhood public beach for over 100 years. Therefore, it is incorrect to call it, “a tiny new public beach.”
The beach is not a “gift “ to the community: the path, used by the public for decades might be, but one would have to be pretty desperate to say that this gift to the community is given in the spirit of philanthropy. Let’s get serious. If built, this dock will forever impose upon Ecclestone, wherever it is located. To say that moving it over for the benefit of all, is insincere. Municipal council continues to perpetuate a myth that the dock applicants moved the dock east out of consideration for the public. It had to be moved toward the public road, because the old siting divided a public beach and blocked public access. The province would not have granted permission in that original siting.
For the record, this dock is not roughly the same size as the neighbouring dock which was grandfathered decades ago, unless you figure 40 feet is roughly the same size 121.7 feet. Completely contrary to what one councillor was quoted as saying, this dock will “always bother the visuals.” The scale of this dock is completely oversized for this location.
To quote the mayor’s questioning the credibility of the letters opposing the dock is completely disrespectful of the communities’ intelligence to express cogent opposition. The “you folks just don’t understand,” is patently insulting.
The November letters to council opposing the dock were in reference to the first application when the dock divided the beach, and not the siting for the current variance application. They had to apply for a variance because there definitely is a clause in our bylaws requiring that a private dock be set back 10 metres from a public road right-of-way. The applicant may have successfully mustered six out of seven votes on council to approve his variance for this private family dock, but it is crazy to ask the Bowen community, the majority of whom remain ardently opposed to the granting of this variance and the dock, to be grateful for this form of generosity. Friends Of Ecclestone Beach have received a 10-day extension for public comment at FLNRORD until July 26. Please write to the province and let them know your thoughts on this matter.
Heather Hodson
