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BC Transit maintenance yard approval in Campbell River is short-sighted

I am writing concerning the BC Transit proposed maintenance yard on Evergreen Road in Campbell River.
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I am writing concerning the BC Transit proposed maintenance yard on Evergreen Road in Campbell River.

My family has lived on Evergreen Road for 55 years. My siblings and I grew there and, although some of us have moved to other cities in British Columbia, we are all frequent visitors to our parents’ home.

I am astonished with the town’s planning department decision to allow the BC Transit maintenance yard to be located in this pretty valley, adjacent to one of the access points of the Beaver Lodge Lands and in close proximity to the headwaters of Nunns Creek. Not only is this site an inappropriate location environmentally, but it is a thoughtless, heartless and shortsighted decision in light of the semi-rural nature of this neighbourhood.

In addition to the many home owners on city-sized lots whose property values and quality of life will be impacted by this semi-industrial works yard, there are also a number of charming multi-acre properties that will be affected by the presence of the installation. This little valley was, historically, farmland; the soil is rich and there is at least one new resident that has invested a great deal of time and energy into establishing a blueberry farm on what was once the Pelletier lands.

As a 30-year resident of Vancouver, I have seen a lot of good zoning, and some bad, but never anything as egregious as this transit yard. In an age of increasing environmental land management awareness, not to mention the societal failure to respect the interests of anyone but the one percent, it baffles me why this industrial site would not have been located in Campbellton, far from private homes and amidst other similar facilities.

I am well aware that BC Hydro received a zoning amendment in order to establish their own works yard on this site 40 years ago. If this existing zoning was the justification for the development of the site I would query why the zoning wasn’t changed back to purely residential. I feel that this decision will be sorely regretted in years to come.

Rebecca Lapres