October 20, 2015
Honourable Mayor Hepner, City Councillors and City Manager
City of Surrey
13450 – 104 Avenue
Surrey, BC V3T 1V8
RE: Concerns with the proposed development at 19438, 19474 and 19356 – 16th Ave. & 1417 – 194th St.
File # 7915-0227-00
The Directors and over 600 members of the all-volunteer Semiahmoo Fish and Game Club / Little Campbell Hatchery view the proposed development of a “Truck Park” on the banks of the Little Campbell River with growing disbelief and despair. Our club was formed in 1956 and incorporated in 1957 with the main purpose of restoring and protecting the Little Campbell River and its tributaries after it was devastated in the 1940’s and early 1950’s by unregulated gravel operations. Ironically one of the responsible gravel operations was located on the very site now being considered for a “Truck Park”. The club remains true to our founding members’ vision and continue, to this day, to work tirelessly in preserving the river and the wildlife that depend on the river for their habitat. Hundreds of thousands of hours of hard work over the past 59 years has restored the river to the point that it is now recognized as the most productive salmon and trout river, for its size, in the Lower Mainland.
Only this week Fisheries and Oceans Canada asked our hatchery, once again, to increase production of young Chinook salmon for distribution to other rivers. The Chinook salmon in the Little Campbell River have been determined to be a genetically unique pure stock.
In 1978 the Semiahmoo Fish & Game Club purchased 29 acres of land on the banks of the river, at 184th Street, just 2.4 kilometers downstream from the proposed site. It should be noted that our property adjoins the City of Surrey’s five acre nature reserve / habitat corridor park (138A) also located on the river’s banks. Since the undeveloped property was purchased club volunteers have built and maintained a comprehensive multi-million dollar facility including:
• Roads, bridges and a handicap accessible interpretive nature trail system that is open to the public;
• A unique steel fish counting fence and trap installed across the river in 1981 that has provided researchers with an invaluable 35-year database on the survival rate of returning salmon;
• The first all-volunteer community salmon / trout hatchery in the province completed in 1983 and the only community hatchery in the province that operates 12 months of the year and
• An extensive environmental /educational centre in 1994 that accommodates over 200 people.
Thousands of local citizens visit the club grounds annually. They are keen to get a close up view of spawning salmon and trout or a glimpse of the beaver, river otter, mink, muskrat and the large variety of birds that now inhabit this little nature reserve. Many refer to our property as the “gem” of South Surrey. In addition, each year over 2,500 elementary students from Surrey, Richmond, Delta and White Rock visit the hatchery and nature trails as part of the “Salmon in the Classroom” program. Since the hatchery was opened in 1983 close to 100,000 students and teachers have participated in this program.
On October 3rd 2011 I appeared before Council expressing serious concern with the plans of the same developer, to place 330,000 cubic meters of fill on this property. On that occasion the Council agreed with our assessment of the risks associated with that proposal and turned it down in conjunction with the approved gravel extraction and landfill operation at 19438 16thAve. We thank the Councillors for their support at that time. Though there are now a number of new Council members, current Mayor Hepner and Councillors Gill, Martin, and Villeneuve were in attendance that evening.
We share all the concerns being raised by a growing number of local groups and citizens. However, in this letter, we wish to focus on the potential devastating impact of this proposal on our property and the continued existence of our 59 year old volunteer organization. We fear that the operation of this “Truck Park” (as has been the case with the developer’s neighboring gravel operation) will be turned over to a third party. This would mean that the applicant will be at least once removed from any responsibility when a disaster occurs – and there is every likelihood that contaminants will enter the river with disastrous consequences for the fish and other wildlife that depend on the river. At the end of the day this “Truck Park” will only be as safe as the most careless trucker and the least maintained vehicle.
In overall terms, there are three generations of salmon and trout that share the river with other marine species. Each generation is born in the river and the primary species (Coho salmon & Steelhead trout) spend up to one year there before going to the sea for two years. They then return to the section of the river where they were born, spawn and in the case of the salmon die. This means that any escape of petroleum products or any other contaminants from the proposed site could end one complete generation of salmon and trout regardless of the time of year. As a result, every three years thereafter, there could be no salmon or trout in the river. A second and third pollution occurrence or a single long-term pollution incident could well result in a “dead” river. There is no time when the fish stock in the river is not vulnerable. This is especially true since this is a relatively small river and over 70% of the spawning grounds start at the proposed “Truck Park” site and extend to our club grounds only 2.4 km downstream.
Without the salmon and trout in the river our “reason for being” would no longer exist. Even with the loss of one generation of fish it would be nearly impossible to retain the many dedicated volunteers needed to maintain the river and operate our hatchery. This would be particularly true if the loss could be attributed to a decision made by our elected municipal officials – a disheartening message that our city leaders’ saw no value in their dedication to preserve and enhance what is left of the City of Surrey’s natural heritage.
This proposal places the Semiahmoo Fish & Game Club and our property in a very precarious position and raises some serious questions:
• Is it acceptable for a developer’s ill-advised property acquisition to jeopardize the very existence of a long term responsible downstream landowner, such as the Semiahmoo Fish & Game Club?
• Does the proposal reintroduce the need to place fill on the site that was previously rejected as too high of a risk by the Mayor and Council four years ago?
• At a time when many jurisdictions in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and elsewhere in British Columbia are spending millions of dollars to restore fish habitat, is it prudent for our city to adopt a development policy that may destroy a restoration that has taken decades to create?
• At a time when conventional engineering and strategies are being proven to be inadequate in the face of changing weather patterns and the increasing number of “100 year” weather events, is it wise to place “light” Industry on this particularly complex and sensitive piece of land?
• Is the need for a “return on an investment” by a developer more important than 59 years of dedication and hard work by thousands of Surrey residents to maintain a small part of the city’s natural heritage?
• For the sake of a questionable development, is it acceptable to put at risk the acclaimed “Salmon in the Classroom” program that has provided tens of thousands of Surrey elementary students with the opportunity to observe and enjoy nature?
• What other less environmentally sensitive and more centrally located properties in the City of Surrey have been evaluated for a “Truck Park”? Does the Province of BC have land in Surrey that could be made available for this purpose? Is it possible for the City of Surrey to offer a land swap for this property?
Undoubtedly, as Mayor and Council members, you will have ample opportunity to review the details of the proposed development. We appeal to you to take the time to assess the potential negative impacts before you reach a decision. Surely the thousands of Surrey citizens who have dedicated much of their free time to the restoration and protection of this river over the past 59 years deserve, at least, that. We would like to offer the Mayor and Council a tour of our grounds and facilities. Other than past Mayor Watts and Councillor Starchuck, we do not recall any visits by the current Mayor and other Council members. We will make ourselves available at any time to host individual or group tours.
Throughout the years we have always had excellent support and cooperation from the City of Surrey and many city staff members refer to us as “stewards of the river”. We encourage you to continue that support and help us to protect our city’s natural heritage.
Thank you for your consideration.
Bob Donnelly
President
Semiahmoo Fish & Game Club / Little Campbell Hatchery
Club phone: 604 535-8366
email:
bobdonnelly@telus.netcc: Honourable Todd Stone, Minister of Transportation, Province of British Columbia
Since 1956 Dedicated to the Restoration and Protection of the Little Campbell River
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Topic: surrey truck park backing on the little campbell (Read 5346 times)