Ferry fares rise
Powell River residents will be paying more on ferries after another round of fare increases kicks in on April 1.
The fare increases are in accordance with the BC Ferries Commissioner’s order issued on October 1, 2012. Prices for vehicle and passenger fares will rise by 4.1 per cent on average on all routes.
A passenger fare on the Saltery Bay-Earls Cove route is increasing from $13.70 to $14.25, while the price for a passenger vehicle is going from $45.90 to $47.80. On the Powell River-Comox route, the passenger fare is increasing from $13.65 to $14.20 and for a passenger vehicle, $43.20 to $44.95. On the Powell River-Texada Island route, the passenger fare is going from $9.90 to $10.30 and a passenger vehicle fare from $23.55 to $24.50.
Fees for reservations made less than seven days in advance are also increasing. The fee is rising from $17.50 to $18.50. Reservations made a week or more in advance will remain the same at $15. Reservation fees apply on the three major routes between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, as well as on the Horseshoe Bay-Langdale and Powell River-Comox routes.
Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons, blasted the April 1 fare increase announcement, but wouldn’t specify how much he would like to see fares rolled back if the New Democratic Party wins the May election.
“The independent commissioner has said that ferry fares were already at the tipping point and I am firmly on his side,” Simons said. “How much lower fares should be would be determined once we get a look at the books. We need to see if the government has created as big a mess as it appears.”
Simons said fare increases affect the cost of everything in coastal communities.
“The 4.1 per cent hike is well above the rate of inflation and is going to hurt the over 52,000 people who call the Sunshine Coast home. The announcement came a day after a report on last year’s consultations, which showed people in every community want ferries brought back under the highways system, and that the fare issue be addressed,” Simons said. “This all points to the failure of the Coastal Ferry Act and the privatization of our public transportation system.”
In a statement on the fare increase, BC Liberal candidate Patrick Muncaster said fares on the routes serving the Sunshine Coast and Powell River are already too high.
While praising the government for holding the ferry consultations and providing $79.5 million in additional funding to the coastal service, Muncaster said the situation remains untenable. “We are proverbially between a rock and a hard place where long-term cost pressures are concerned. Status quo operations are not an option,” he said.
BC Ferries needs to find ways to be more efficient in its operations, Muncaster added. “I am committed to a sustainable and efficient ferry service for ferry dependent communities and to bringing that message home clearly to the MLAs across this province and the government,” he said. “I do not believe the solution lays in just throwing money at the problem. Rather I believe that the solution is to be found in a number of adjustments in different parts of the ferry and transportation system that would see ferry dependent communities’ economic fabric maintained.”
-with files from Coast Reporter
Third reading
Powell River Regional District rural directors unanimously passed third reading of the Electoral Area C OCP (official community plan) at the February 28 board meeting, without comment.
Rural directors held a public hearing on January 30 about the draft OCP and Laura Roddan, manager of planning, presented a report about the meeting, as well as on responses from referral agencies, at the February 21 planning committee.
Out of 1,114 property owners in Electoral Area C, 28 members of the public attended the public hearing, which was held at Lang Bay Community Hall. Five individuals presented issues of concern with the draft plan and three key issues were identified: recognition of existing land uses; recognition of secondary suites; and development permit provisions for riparian areas.
Roddan’s report noted that a policy in the existing OCP obligates the regional district to recognize all existing land uses in future land use regulations. Legal advice received in 2011 confirmed the obligation, Roddan added. “Sound planning practices and land use mapping methodologies were applied to map existing land uses.”
Roddan also pointed out that the draft OCP does not include the policy, which removes the loophole that obligates the regional district to recognize existing land uses indefinitely. When the OCP is adopted, it will provide a baseline of existing land uses from which to monitor changes in land use over time. In the future, property owners proposing land uses inconsistent with land use designations in the OCP will have to apply for an OCP amendment.
In addressing the concern about secondary suites, Roddan pointed out that there was an inconsistency between the definition of secondary suites and a reference to secondary suites in a policy. She recommended correcting the inconsistency by amending the definition.
In addressing the concern about development permits, Roddan noted that the regional district is obligated through provincial legislation to implement the Riparian Areas Regulation.
The only changes to the draft OCP were the inclusion of information about the Sechelt First Nation, two minor revisions suggested by the Agricultural Land Commission and a revision of the definition of secondary suite, to “a separate fully-habitable accessory dwelling unit located entirely within a single-family dwelling, with its own entrance.”
Those amendments do not require a second public hearing.
The OCP has been forwarded to the ministry of community, sport and cultural development for approval.
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