The small 56-unit community of Olivers Landing, north of Furry Creek, has been trying to legalize its seasonal touch and go dock for several years. Despite general support, several residents are worried about privatizing the foreshore and about environmental impacts.
Members of the Olivers Landing Boat and Kayak Club (OLBKC), which built the dock, are defiant about their right to have safe access to the water and have applied for tenure in the area.
Were not trying to keep people from accessing the foreshore were trying to make it easier to get as many people as possible out on the water, said Cynthia Christie, Oliver Landing resident and OLBKC member.
Christies husband, Greg McMillan, has been an avid supporter of the dock and actually helped build it.
The first thing to realize is our seasonal dock is also a safety outlet for people with complications in Howe Sound, he said. Were listed as an emergency access point and have helped out several stranded people in the past.
The safety issue is one thing, but also, its an amenity for the community. There are a lot of seniors living in the community who arent capable of walking over the driftwood and rocks to get their boats into the water and they need some form of launching dock.
In March 2009, the Squamish Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) board voted not to allow the area to be used for boat moorings because of issues related to sediment containment and fisheries habitat. The board ordered OLBKC to remove the dock within 60 days.
The issue was reopened for debate in May 2009 when the SLRD board commissioned a geotechnical assessment to determine the safety of the site and identify measures to mitigate hazards or alternate sites.
The board also stipulated several other conditions not allowing ongoing moorage but only a touch and go use (meaning the dock can only be used to launch or pick up and drop off people and items), an inspection and maintenance policy, public access to the dock and mitigation of impacts on neighbouring residents and the debris flow containment area.
SLRD Electoral Area D Director John Turner said the geotechnical assessment was done and the location was deemed safe.
After the geotechnical assessment was done, OLBKC found out it was barking up the wrong tree. The SLRD did not have the authority to grant tenure for the private dock and the club was informed it would have to make an application to the province.
McMillan said the club sent the application to the Integrated Land Management Bureau (ILMB) on Nov. 30, 2010 with several supporting documents including a copy of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) letter of approval from February 2008.
It was enclosed with our application and they [ILMB] are pleased to see that we have complied with all regulatory agents including NAV Canada, DFO, and Ministry of Air, Land and Water [Environment] B.C., McMillan said.
Local environmentalist John Buchanan had several concerns about DFOs approval and is convinced the Feds should reassess the site.
He suspects a small fish kill in March 2010 could be a result of the dock and the fuel leakage that comes from the boats that use it.
I find it disturbing that this dock is even under consideration, he said. There seems to be a basiclack of understanding from the locals that they live beside a highly productive salmon spawning area. The mooring of boats and the construction of the existing dock demonstrates this.
Buchanan said he hopes the Province will see his point of view and sent his comments to the ILMB for consideration.
I would ask that not onlyshould this application be turned down, but I would strongly suggest thatDFO officials visit the area, ask that all foreshore structures be immediately dismantled and that all power boat moors be pulled up off the ocean floor, with instructions to the locals that they will be fined if any further encroachment on the area take place, he wrote in his comments.
However, DFO biologist Brian Naito, who wrote the letter to OLBKC and ILMB and inspected the site in 2008, said he did not share Buchanans concern about boat fuel getting into the water and affecting fish habitat.
They [OLBKC] had proposed the project and I provided them with guidance on how to carry out the project without impacting fish or fish habitat by minimizing the disturbance to the intertidal and riparian zones at the site, Naito said.
He last visited the site in 2008 and concluded that the club had taken the proper precautions when building the dock.
According to Turner, who has been trying resolve the dispute for five years, the privatization of Howe Sound foreshore is what has most dock opponents up in arms.
There are a number of people who have a big problem with it and one of the big problems they have is this whole question of is it private or public, he said.
The original agreement when Olivers Landing was put in place and even when Furry Creek was pulled together did say that access to the water is going to be public. The people opposing the dock are saying if its a private dock, then its no longer accessible by the public.
McMillan refutes the arguments made by the docks opponents, saying the proposed dock is the exact same system that other communities use, including Squamish.
Its the exact same idea as the Squamish Yacht Club, said McMillan. The land is leased and by paying a membership fee, you can use the amenity, as long as you live in the area. Were not limiting members to Olivers Landing but the entire Furry Creek community.
The idea behind the system is that people who dont use it dont have to pay for it.
He added that securing tenure only applies to the dock itself and anyone can still access the other 100 kilometres or so of foreshore as they always have.
Turner said as long as the ILMB application calls the dock private which it does he suspects opposition will continue.
As long as the application is for a private dock, thats where the people in opposition are going to be quite upset about it, said Turner.
Affected residents have until Jan. 20 to submit comments to the Integrated Land Management Bureau online at http://arfd.gov.bc.ca/ApplicationPosting/viewpost.jsp?PostID=19826.
