Saanich councillors got an earful last week about one of the district’s environmental-protection bylaws. They should pay attention because the bylaw needs to be fixed.
Members of the district’s environment committee, expecting their usual sedate meeting, instead found a dozen residents and biologists who told them the Environmental Development Permit Area bylaw goes overboard.
The bylaw, which affects more than 2,000 properties, requires landowners to get permits if they want to do work on property that is identified in an atlas of sensitive ecosystems. The work can include planting gardens, paving, changing vegetation, or removing or depositing soil.
The district’s guidelines say: “The objectives of this Development Permit Area are to: Protect the areas of highest biodiversity within Saanich; require mitigation during development; and require restoration to damaged or degraded ecosystems during development.” Fine goals; poor execution.
Anita Bull, whose mother and uncle own properties on Christmas Hill, has started a petition to get the bylaw reformed. The properties have Garry oaks, but there are no natural shrubs and saplings underneath. The area was turned to lawn decades ago.
As Bull notes, the oaks are already protected by the tree bylaw. The sensitive ecosystem beneath them was wiped out long ago. So what is Saanich protecting?
Amendments suggested by staff could expand the scope of the protected area, so that even remnants such as Bull’s family’s are protected because of their potential for recovery. One proposed change would allow staff to ignore the provincial definition of “sensitive” ecosystems.
Homeowners are already hemmed in by many bylaws and regulations about what they can do with their properties — all in good causes. This one also has good intentions, but Saanich has left the work half-finished.
It was based on an aerial survey of the municipality, which identified areas such as stands of Garry oak. Beneath some of those oaks are sensitive, natural ecosystems that need protection.
The survey should have been followed by people on the ground checking what was under the trees. That was never done, so people such as Bull’s mother are assumed to have sensitive plants in their yards, even though they don’t.
Instead of amending the inventory of ecosystems, the district leaves it to each homeowner to sort it out when they want to do something to their land. That costs money, and it shouldn’t happen.
The detailed atlas shows that protected areas are scattered throughout Saanich. The largest are in parks and along shorelines. But many blobs of orange and yellow sprawl across residential areas as if someone spilled a drink on the map. One near Mount Douglas Cross Road touches at least 16 properties.
Saanich residents Bev and Mark Insley say they have spent $2,500 on a biological assessment of their Cordova Bay property so they could rebuild steps down a bank. After a year of wrestling with the district, they are no closer to getting approval. They have hired a lawyer because they have had no luck with officials, either elected or appointed.
Saanich officials say the aim is to catch potential destruction at times of redevelopment or rezoning. That makes it sound as if we’re talking about developers bulldozing natural plants to build new houses. But as Bull and the Insleys have found, it can catch ordinary homeowners in a costly tangle of rules without protecting any natural ecosystem.
At its meeting, the environment committee recommended an open house on the bylaw. Councillors and staff should use the opportunity to listen to what residents have to say.
Protecting fragile ecosystems is a valuable goal. But it’s up to the municipality to ensure there is an ecosystem to protect. Dumping the burden of proof on homeowners is unreasonable.
