BIG ANGST IN BIG POND
Plenty of reasons why development should not be approved
On Nov. 22, approximately 100 people filed into the Big Pond fire hall and it was not to play tarabish. We were there to express our concerns about CBRM ZONING AMENDMENT APPLICATION – 1037, which, if approved, would be the first step in allowing the development of a 600-unit RV park on a 100-acre piece of land in Big Pond Centre.
It seems clear that there are sufficient grounds for the CBRM planning and development department to recommend to council that they reject this zoning application amendment, and that the council vote to do just that. Why?
1. The RV Park Proposal Does Not Fit With Established CBRM Policy
The CBRM Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use Bylaw, adopted by council in September of 2004, states its policy that it will “support the concept of an inter-municipal plan for the Bras d’Or Lake focused on its environmental remediation by continuing to participate in the joint planning endeavours of the three levels of government and native reserves.”
The RV Park Proposal includes fundamentally changing a shoreline with a saltwater marsh, pockets of wetlands, and existing productive oyster beds to create a wide, sandy beach.
2. The RV Park Proposal Does Not Fit With The Bras d’Or Lake Designation As A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
As one of only 16 UNESCO Biospheres Reserves in Canada, we have a collective responsibility to consider the recommendations of The Bras d’Or Lake Biosphere Reserve to commit to sustainable economic development.
The RV park proposal is not one that fits into with the overall concept of The Bras d’Or Lake as an important ecosystem or with the existing physical nature of the wider community.
3. The RV Park Proposal Does Not Fit With The CBRM’s Municipal Planning Strategy
The CBRM’s Municipal Planning Strategy describes rural communities like Big Pond Centre in this way: “The communities are prized for their clean environment and should integrate new development in sustainable ways so as to minimize environmental impacts and protect the privacy rural living has to offer.”
As part of what sustainable development aims to do is protect existing ecosystems, the Big Pond RV park proposal in no way fits this stated strategy.
4. The RV Park Proposal Does Not Fit With The CBRM Planning And Development Department’s Criteria For Changing Zoning In Rural Communities
As explained by Malcolm Gillis – director of planning & development/CBRM and Karen Neville – planner/CBRM at the aforementioned meeting, the planning & development department considers only three criteria when reviewing whether to amend zoning to allow a development that would not usually be allowed, in a rural area:
1. Visual compatibility and noise
To change 100 acres of land into a 600-unit RV park, bulldozers would have to basically take part of a mountain away, which would dramatically change the visual appeal of the local landscape, not to mention the sight of what would amount to 600 parking spaces in its place.
It is dark out here, perfect for sky watching, and this park would generate light similar to that generated by the Woodbine Convertor Centre on Morley Road, which is visible from Route 4, six kilometers away.
Residents nearby the land where the RV Park is proposed now live in quiet, perhaps punctuated by a coyote howling or an owl screeching at night. Six hundred RVs with a possible 600 generators running with people talking, singing and, yes, having fun would be loud. Unquestionably.
2. Dust or fumes emanating from the site
Elperwood International, a consulting group focused on sustainable tourism development, has published a study that identifies solid sewage that “rises to the surface or percolates into nearby groundwater systems” as a fairly common problem at RV parks, which would generate unwanted fumes.
3. Traffic attracted to, and leading from the site
If you have passed through Big Pond Centre on your way to Halifax, you will understand that suddenly encountering RVs as they slowly turn into a park along that stretch of highway could pose a hazard. Also, the proposed park would have the highway running through it, separating its beach from some of its facilities, which would encourage people to cross a very busy highway with limited sightlines unsafely.
The CBRM planning and development department should be encouraged to revise these criteria as they fail to address privacy as a value in rural communities and to provide them with a complete picture of how a development might change a community.
I share my opinion on this proposal because I feel strongly that this urban development is wrong for a rural area in Cape Breton, and, more importantly, I believe that the CBRM policies are consistent with this belief.
“Six hundred RVs with a possible 600 generators running with people talking, singing and, yes, having fun would be loud.”