Council to vote on proposed RV park
The battle lines over an RV campground proposed for a rural Cape Breton community should be more clearly defined once the regional municipal council addresses the matter at today’s meeting.
The controversial issue was the subject of a special public hearing last week during which supporters and opponents of the project had an opportunity to have their say.
Today, CBRM councillors are expected to vote whether to approve or deny an application to have the area’s land-use zoning bylaw amended to allow for the development of a campground that could have as many as 541 fully serviced RV sites on a 109acre parcel of land running up the slope from the Bras d’Or Lake in Big Pond Centre, about 40 km west of Sydney.
Sydney councillor Eldon MacDonald, who visited the site of the proposed RV park last week, acknowledged that it will be a difficult decision, given both the passionate opposition by many community members and the municipality’s support of economic development.
“It’s going to be a very difficult decision for myself and I’m still unsure how I am going to move forward with that decision — I have a lot of thinking to do prior to the meeting,” MacDonald, who also serves as deputy mayor, said late last week.
Councillor Ivan Doncaster, whose district includes the Big Pond area, agreed that the issue is contentious and that council members will be forced to make a tough choice.
“It’s going to be close — I think it’s going to be a 7-6 vote one way or another,” predicted Doncaster, who added that he’s very aware of how many residents, both permanent and seasonal, in the area around the proposed campground have made it very clear as to what they think of the development.
“I’m supporting the people up there – I have to.”
During last week’s public hearing at a packed city hall council chamber, many opponents of the project cited concerns that do not fall under the criteria that council must consider when making its decision.
At that meeting, municipal planner Karen Neville outlined what council must consider when the time comes to vote on the application.
“The criteria in the planning strategy to consider this application are visual compatibility and noise, dust and fumes emanating from the site, and traffic attracted to and leaving from the site,” said Neville, who added that the project proponent must also obtain additional approvals and permits from various government departments before the development could proceed.
For MacDonald, that further muddles an already controversial issue. He said it will be extremely hard to consciously ignore factors, such as environmental impact, that are under the jurisdiction of either the provincial or federal government.
“It’s difficult because at the end of the day we have to look at the criteria that we have as a municipality, so it’s hard to separate that and it’s difficult to try to block that out,” he said. But councillors won’t necessarily be going into Tuesday’s meeting without guidance.
During last week’s public hearing, the CBRM’s municipal planning staff recommended that council approve only part of the zoning amendment application — that being Phase 1 which calls for 211 serviced sites located on a parcel of land located between Highway 4 and the shoreline of Bras d’Or Lake.
If council approves the landuse zoning amendment application as recommended by staff, the next step would be for the developer to apply to the CBRM for a building permit. And, at some point, the developer must meet provincial and federal criteria in regard to issues such as environmental concerns, highway access, water usage and sewage disposal.
And those issues will involve a number of Nova Scotia government entities, including the departments of Environment and Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal and Tourism Nova Scotia. The Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans may also become involved, given that the waters of the Bras d’Or Lake fall under its jurisdiction.
But, no matter how council votes, the result can be appealed before Nova Scotia’s Public Utility and Review Board.