Erosion concerns in city

Residents frustrated with lack of enforcement after developer clearcuts buffer zone

Residents of a Charlottetown neighbourhood are frustrated after the buffer zone of a waterfront property was destroyed without penalty.

Sjors Reijers, a Brighton resident living on Colonel Gray Drive, said neighbours of a waterfront property that is being developed are concerned about erosion and structural decay after its new owners clear cut its 15-metre buffer zone.

Reijers said in August, the small property located behind 1 Colonel Gray Dr. was purchased by a developer. As the lot is on the shoreline, it had a buffer zone filled with trees, bushes and grass.

However, a few weeks after the sale, Reijers said workers showed up with excavators and chainsaws and clear cut the lot, leaving only an old cabin that had been there for over 30 years.

“We called conservation to come take a look. They came and the Department of Environment came, but to our knowledge no stop order was issued, and no fine was given as far as we know for clear cutting inside the buffer zone,” he said.

Reijers said he wasn’t sure if the developers of the property had a permit under the Environmental Protection Act to operate in the zone.

Saltwire Network contacted the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action to see if a permit had been granted for work in the buffer zone on the property.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the department said the EECA department was made aware of the proposed work on the shoreline, and permission for the work was applied for through the Licensed Contractor Program.

“(However), a site inspection triggered an investigation by the Enforcement Branch of Justice and Public Safety. This investigation is ongoing,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said when the department was initially called out to the property, the contractor onsite voluntarily removed the equipment and halted work, negating the need for a stop work order.

The spokesperson said the province and the City of Charlottetown have since reviewed a draft site development plan for the property, which was sent back to the developer for revisions.

As for enforcement, fines have yet to be laid, said the spokesperson.

WIDESPREAD PROBLEM

Joanne Mackinnon, who lives across the street from the Colonel Gray Drive property, said the problem of developers building along the shoreline is more widespread than just on their street.

“It’s not even just this location. There seems to be so many cases of people just going ahead and ignoring the environmental buffer zone rules for large developments,” she said.

“If it’s legal, great, more power to them. But it just doesn’t feel legal what has happened so far.”

The Environmental Protection Act allows fines of $3,000 to $10,000 to be placed on anyone doing unpermitted work within shoreline buffer zones. However, P.E.I.’S Environment Minister Steven Myers recently announced plans to raise the fines to $50,000. Mackinnon said that change could help deter some bad actors.

“If the fines are sufficient that they can no longer be written off as a cost of doing business, people will start to think twice,” she said.

However, Reijers said having fines doesn’t do enough to keep developers from ignoring the law.

“Increasing the fine, sure, if you are building your dream home and you want to live there, that might matter to you. But this is Brighton. You are going to build a 2,000-square-foot house and sell it for $1.8 million. No one is going to care if you add an extra $50,000,” he said.

Reijers said if the province is truly worried about environmental hazards and erosion, it needs to set a clear boundary on whether development is allowed to be done within buffer zones.

“(The province) can say, ‘no you can’t build here because you are inside the buffer zone,’ which seems like the right way to do it,” he said.

“A fine doesn’t make sense. Either you can or you can’t build in a buffer zone. If you can build in there, what’s the point of a fine? If you can’t build in there, enforce regulations saying you can’t build in there.”

CODY MCEACHERN • THE GUARDIAN Joanne Mackinnon, who lives across the street from the property on Colonel Gray Drive, said increasing the fines tied to working within a buffer zone without a permit could help deter developers who would otherwise see the current fine as “the cost of doing business.”

CODY MCEACHERN • THE GUARDIAN A property behind 1 Colonel Gray Dr. in Charlottetown is looking a lot more bare after its new owners cleared the lot of trees, bushes and grass, destroying the property’s buffer zone, said Sjors Reijers, who lives next to the lot. He said the surrounding residents are frustrated the new owners have not received any penalty for removing the buffer zone and are concerned it may present future erosion issues.

CONTRIBUTED Sjors Reijers, who lives next to the lot, said more strict enforcement is needed around whether or not work is permitted in buffer zones.