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Controversial Floodplain Bylaw Sticks for Slocan Lake Property in Valhalla Park

by Timothy Schafer

From the Valley VOICE. Reprinted with permission.

A controversial development proposed for a private property located on Slocan Lake, within the boundaries of Valhalla Provincial Park, has had a setback in its bid for a setback relaxation.

The property owners applied for the setback relaxation in August 2011, asking for the 15-metre setback requirement in the floodplain bylaw to be relaxed to five metres to allow them to build a residence closer to the water.

On January 19, the Regional District of Central Kootenay board of directors denied the owners an exemption from the floodplain bylaw.

Although RDCK staff recommended that the board consider a 10-metre setback instead, the board did not go for that, either. In order to grant an exemption to the floodplain bylaw, the board must be convinced that there is hardship involved.

Area H Director Walter Popoff explained that the original cabin on the property is 20 metres up from the lake, and the owner intends to dismantle that cabin. “So in that view [of the dismantle], we felt there will already be a building site available for him since the cabin was built there, and there didn’t seem to be any significant hardship in reconstructing on the same building site,” he said.

The engineer Turner contracted to do a feasibility study on the property felt the five-metre relaxation would still keep a new structure safe from any excessive wave action.

“But for us to exempt a bylaw just because it is safe to build closer to the water is not really sufficient information for us,” said Popoff.

The applicant had to demonstrate significant hardship from complying with the original 15-metre bylaw setback, which he was not able to do, Popoff explained.

Having no road access or power, the property is characterized by a rocky southwest shoreline with site restrictions related to topography, approximately three kilometres north of the Village of Slocan. The property slope is at a 30-degree gradient for most of the land above Slocan Lake. As a result, placing a structure on the property would require manual labour and the use of solar power, so maximization of southern exposure is important.

When the matter first came before the RDCK’s Rural Affairs Committee in October 2011, staff recommended granting the owners’ request for a five-metre setback, subject to approval of a site remediation plan. RDCK Senior Planner Meeri Durand wrote in a report to the committee that if the owners had to build elsewhere than close to the water, it would result in further land clearing and modification. She also pointed out that the structure had to be exposed to maximize alternative power generation.

Durand said a professional report dismissed impacts to Slocan Lake as negligible as long as appropriate mitigation measures were taken, and these would be included in the development permit.

But the request sparked some opposition, from public and private concerns. The Slocan Lake Stewardship Society, Senior Habitat Biologist Tola Cooper with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Habitat Officer Terry Anderson with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations all advised against the floodplain setback change.

The next hurdle for the property owners is to get a development permit. According to the area’s Official Community Plan, any development within 30 metres of the high water mark needs to be assessed for impacts to riparian values and fish habitat.

Because the relaxation was denied on the floodplain bylaw, it is expected the RDCK planning manager will not recommend that the development be closer than 15 metres from the high water mark.

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RDCK grapples with Slocan Lake Floodplain Relaxation Request

by Timothy Schafer

From Valley Voice newspaper, Nov. 2, 2011 issue of the Valley VOICE. Reprinted with permission.

Owners of a private property within Valhalla Provincial Park boundaries will have to wait a little longer for a Regional District board decision on their request to have a floodplain setback relaxed so they can build closer to the shore of Slocan Lake.
The Regional District of Central Kootenay Rural Affairs Committee has referred the controversial matter back to RDCK staff for a site review, said committee chair and Area D Director Andy Shadrack.
“Some information came to light and staff wanted to go and check the site in relation to the reports that have been received,” he said. “There appears to be a contradiction in one of the reports and the information supplied to the Regional District, so we have to look at it [again].”
The owners applied for the setback relaxation in August.
The 1.72-acre Area H property owned by Richard and Endang Turner of Oyama, south of Vernon, is within the boundaries of Valhalla Provincial Park. Having no road access or power, it is characterized by a rocky southwest shoreline with site restrictions related to topography, approximately three kilometres north of the Village of Slocan.
The property slope is at a 30-degree gradient for most of the land above Slocan Lake. As a result, placing a structure on the property would require manual labour and the use of solar power, so maximization of southern exposure is important.
In a report dated October 19 to the RDCK’s Rural Affairs Committee, Senior Planner Meeri Durand recommended the floodplain setback be changed from 15 metres to five metres, as the owners had requested, subject to approval of a site remediation plan.
It was felt that if the owners had to place a structure somewhere else on the property, it would result in further land clearing and modification, Durand said in the report. The structure had to be exposed to maximize alternative power generation.
Durand said a professional report dismissed impacts to Slocan Lake as negligible as long as appropriate mitigation measures were taken, and these would be included in the development permit.
“The relative isolation of this property and adjacent properties would indicate the circumstances of this application are unique and cannot be construed as setting precedence,” Durand said in her report to the committee.
But the request has sparked some opposition, from public and private concerns. The Slocan Lake Stewardship Society is against allowing the request, even though a site report notes that the beach has been disturbed and no longer provides fish habitat.
“To use the illegally degraded state of the beach as a reason to allow development is to reward those who have disturbed it,” said society president Therese DesCamp in a letter to RDCK’s Rural Affairs Committee. “It is far more appropriate to recommend restoration of the foreshore than to recommend the relaxation of rules that protect the foreshore from further disturbance.”
Area H Director Walter Popoff also opposes approving the setback, citing the .7-metre freeboard wave allowance – for wind setup and wave run-up on the shore – to be too low. He said it is more appropriate to set the allowance at two metres, the height of the waves that caused significant damage to the Silverton breakwater on May 28, 2001.
“This … would be more reflective of the actual wave action during the high windstorm on Slocan Lake,” he said.
A report on the property states the slopes are well drained and stable, and the proposed building site is above the flood construction level for the lake.
Senior Habitat Biologist Tola Cooper with Fisheries and Oceans Canada feels a reduction in the setback is not acceptable, especially with the riparian area already lacking.
“[This] may set a precedence that will result in increased impacts along the lake,” Cooper said.
Habitat Officer Terry Anderson with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources also advised against the floodplain setback change.
The building is proposed to be approximately 1,205 square feet, post and beam or log structure with pier and post foundation. It would use a closed septic tank installed near the house and liquid waste would be pumped into a sewage disposal field in the upland section of the lot.”

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Algal Bloom in Bigalow Bay

In August an algal bloom was reported in Bigalow Bay, which located on the north side of New Denver. Samples were taken by Margaret Hartley and sent to Passmore Labs for analysis. The following is a copy of the report from the lab.