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Regional district shores up beach access

Board will make application to develop right-of-way

Powell River Regional District will be applying to ministry of transportation and infrastructure (MOTI) to open up public beach access to Canoe Bay in the Scotch Fir Point area.

At the Thursday, October 23, regional district board meeting, directors carried a resolution to open up the site located along Scotch Fir Point Road on the MOTI right-of-way.

The regional district had originally contemplated opening up a beach access site at McRae Cove,  but adoption of a resolution to this effect in April prompted a number of letters, phone calls and in-person visits from residents concerned about the prospect. According to a report from Jason Gow, regional district planner, the issue of opening beach access at Canoe Bay resonated deeply with many residents of the area. In September, a delegation appeared at the Parks and Greenspace Implementation Advisory Committee meeting and requested the change of location.

Bruno Thielmann, a representative of Wesgroup Properties that owns the properties on either side of the proposed Canoe Bay right of way originally recommended alternative sites for beach access.

However, Thielmann appeared before the regional district’s committee of the whole meeting on October 9, and said the property owners would support the community decision.

“It’s a privately held, family-owned company,” Thielmann said of Wesgroup. “Every project they undertake, however, they consider as a partnership.

“Scotch Fir Point, though, is a little more than just a project for us, and specifically for the family.”

Thielmann said they very much want to be part of and to participate in the beach access project. “It is very clear that the community has made a choice about what they prefer,” he said. “We respect that and appreciate it for the time, effort and work that the planning committee has put into it, and the parks and the green space implementation advisory committee. They have made a recommendation and we support that.”

Chair Colin Palmer said he appreciated the Wesik family, owners of Wesgroup Properties. “As far as partnerships are concerned, I’m sure the board will be wanting to talk to you a little bit more as things develop.”

The cost of developing the right-of-way is estimated at $8,000, which has been accounted for in the 2014 budget.