A former city landfill site involving Squatter’s Creek remains an unresolved issue.
A development permit application for land at the corner of Joyce Avenue and Field Street involves the old landfill. School District 47, the current owner, has offered to donate a portion of it to the City of Powell River for parkland to satisfy Local Government Act requirements for park dedication. The parcel of land being offered is one of four lots that contain refuse from the old Squatter’s Creek landfill site, as identified by a 2011 Levelton Environmental Report. The entire portion of District Lot 5121, which includes land that was previously owned by the school district, is flagged as a potential contaminated site in the BC site profile registry.
The ministry of environment (MOE) is aware of the ongoing issues with the site and has approved proceeding with the subdivision of the land.
The city has issued land variance permits to allow preliminary requirements to be put in place. However, no construction will take place until all requirements are met.
When the lands are developed in the future, the city will realize additional tax revenues and benefit from Development Cost Charges that will also apply to one residential RM1-zoned lot.
At its most recent meeting earlier this month, council agreed to defer any decision on whether to accept or decline the offer of the parkland until legal counsel on the matter is obtained.
“As a community we dumped garbage there,” councillor Russell Brewer told the Peak in a telephone conversation. “We’re obligated to clean it up. There may be an opportunity to enter into a partnership with the school district if remediation is decided as the best course of action.”
Brewer added all options need to be considered prior to any decision being made. He explained that if there can be a joint cleanup project between the school district and the city, that option would be preferable to accepting ownership and any responsibility for remediation that goes along with it.
A report presented to council by Carlos Felip, director of planning services, identified that enabling the subdivision to proceed is consistent with the city’s economic revitalization plan and with its sustainability plan.
Felip said transforming old landfill sites into parkland is a strategy that has been used successfully in Coquitlam and Surrey where much larger landfill sites exist. “There are dozens more sites in BC alone,” he said. “There are hundreds more across Canada.”
With respect to the old Squatter’s Creek site, Felip added, “No matter how far you are from being an environmentalist, anyone will look at the site and what happened there and know it’s not acceptable by today’s standards.
“Due process has been followed and will continue. Sites like this are always checked many times. Whoever develops at the site, there is mandatory research yet to be done.”
Also at the January council meeting, Powell River resident George Orchiston provided a copy of a letter he had submitted to the school district, in which he’d suggested due process may have been overlooked in its management of the property.
“In his letter Mr. Orchiston suggested that perhaps correct procedure was not followed,” said school district superintendent of schools Jay Yule. “We’ve met with city officials, we’ve talked within the ministry of education and we’ve assured the city that we’ve followed all regulatory and legislative requirements. Happily, last Thursday, the city passed the subdivision that we had applied for.”
