Company says it doesn’t need permit to work on land set for subdivision. Western Forest Products is pushing ahead with building roads meant for a housing subdivision, even though the Capital Regional District insists the company doesn’t have the right to do so.
In late July, the CRD sent the company a letter demanding it stop building roads on forest land around Jordan River and Shirley. The CRD says the work contravenes development permit rules.
However, Western has replied that it does not need a development permit for road building as the land is still private managed forest land and comes under provincial regulations, not CRD rules.
“Western does not agree that it requires a development permit for any activities that are currently being performed on the lands,” says a letter signed by the company’s chief operating officer, Duncan Kerr.
That does not mean the roads are being built for forestry purposes, Kerr said in an interview.
“If the subdivision application is not approved, then we will likely use these roads for part of our future logging operations, but there’s no question that the preparation work underway now is absolutely for subdivision purposes,” he said.
Bob Lapham, CRD general manager of planning, said the regional district is getting legal advice on whether the road-building violates development permit rules.
It is a tricky question, as the company is claiming exemption because the land is still classified as private managed forest land, even though it has applied to subdivide.
“There’s not a lot of case law testing this,” Lapham said. “The legislation was not developed with the idea that forest companies would become land developers.”
The relationship between the CRD and Western has been strained since the regional district rezoned forestry land in the southwest corner of Vancouver Island to 120-hectare-minimum lot sizes. That move restricts the number of houses that can be built.
The land was formerly private forest land included in a tree farm license, but last year the company was given provincial permission to pull it out of the TFL. Western then put the land on the market and conditionally sold it to developer Ender Ilkay.
After a public outcry, the CRD responded by rezoning. Western then applied, under the old rules, to the province for subdivision, which would allow 319 acreages. Western has one year, which is up in April, to get approvals and preliminary layout work in place.
In an interview, Janyk said the province’s actions strip away the ability of local governments to manage growth.
“This tears up official community plans of regional districts and forces them to accept growth,” he said.
Since 1999, about 180,000 hectares of private land have been removed from tree farm licenses, as a result of four decisions by the province, and all have been on Vancouver Island, according to Doyle’s report. That leaves only 17,165 hectares of private land under tree farm licenses.
Meanwhile, Premier Gordon Campbell has been asked by Vancouver Island and Sunshine Coast local governments to review decisions that have allowed large tracts of private lands to be removed from tree farm licenses.
“Local governments on Vancouver Island have expressed profound concerns that these lands were removed without adequate consultation with all stakeholders and affected communities,” says a letter sent to Campbell from the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities, an organization that represents 49 municipalities and regional districts, including those in Greater Victoria.
In light of a report by auditor general John Doyle — which said the Western decision was made without adequate community consultation or sufficient regard for the public interest — the decisions should be reviewed, says the letter, signed by coastal communities association president Barry Janyk.
Source: Times Columnist
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