Riparian regs come under council microscope

JOHN MOORHOUSE Friday, May 22, 2009 Penticton Herald:

Penticton city council is pondering a plan which could halt local enforcement of provincial riparian area regulations. Gary Leobold, the city‘s manager of planning, said in a report to council this week there have been several recent instances where property owners or developers complained of being forced to hire a qualified environmental professional to conduct an impact study for even minor improvements within 30 metres of a lake or creekbed. Removing riparian regulations from the official community plan is one of five alternatives presented to council. Others included conducting a comprehensive study of riparian lands in the city, hiring a city staff member to act as a qualified environmental professional, revising the community plan‘s riparian area language, or continuing with existing regulations. Leobold noted the whole purpose of B.C.‘s riparian legislation, introduced in 2006, was to protect fish habitat and other sensitive areas. He added even with the removal of riparian regulations from the community plan, property owners would still have to adhere to the Fish Protection Act. Coun. Mike Pearce described the regulations as “absurd” in some circumstances. He noted one homeowner fell afoul of the regulations when his home‘s eavestroughs intruded into the riparian setback.
Another homeowner had to get three different reports completed - one for subdivision of his property, one for building the house and one for planting vegetation in a fenced off riparian area.

Pearce said costs can range from $1,200 to $3,200 a report. Mayor Dan Ashton noted onus of enforcing the riparian legislation was downloaded onto municipalities and urged council get more information from Victoria. Ashton, who owns lakefront property in Trout Creek, warned against “sterilization” of lakefront and creekside properties caught within the riparian zone.
“The pendulum should be in the middle, but unfortunately it has gone way over to the left or swung way over to the right,” he said. “It‘s time to bring this back to some sensibility.” However, the mayor said the proposal to loosen the regulations, doesn‘t mean council or city staff are not concerned about protecting the environment. “We‘re not supporting the developers in a sense, because they‘re complaining,” he said. “What we‘re doing is trying to address legitimate concerns - not only what developers are facing, but what municipalities are also facing in having to deal with these new riparian regulations.” However, Coun. Dan Albas warned council against “throwing out the baby with the bath water” and said council has other options to deal with the problem. Council voted unanimously to postpone the issue until next month, to allow for further input from the provincial government.