Many of us waterfront property owners support public consultation, community planning, development of sustainable public amenities, a forward looking City Council that is open to exploring options to enhance access to and value from such a stupendous regional asset as the Columbia River, and respect for private property.
Indeed, respect for private property is not mutually exclusive of public river front access, be it neighbourhood pocket parks, roadside viewpoints, or a 12-km trail connecting Castlegar from end to end.
Riparian Rights pre-date confederation, making it absurd to presume that our municipal government will act contrary to rights of ingress/egress, protection of lands from erosion, and payment of assessed fair market value in the event expropriation is called for.
By the same token, Riparian Rights are a two-sided concept, with accretion both potentially “giving” new land and “taking it away” through the process of deposit and erosion over time.
Likewise, Riparian Rights providing for ingress/egress address access to and from all points along a water way to an upland owner fronting water AND for public foreshore access to a passer by, making what the Provincial government has to say on the matter a simple restatement of long standing law — not some extraordinary pronouncement for or against a Columbia River waterfront master plan.
Fear-mongering on the construction side of the “our banks will cave in” ilk is silly. We have a wealth of skilled, independent environmental impact savvy consultants to tap into, third-party interests (First Nation, BC Hydro, and Provincial conservation) to offer stewardship, and a respected non-profit trail society to collaborate with in any river front development endeavor.
Equally as silly are the expenditure fears. Just how much assessed value do you think a non-serviced, inaccessible, and non-buildable piece of trail land costs to expropriate? Not to mention the variety of both federal and provincial monies earmarked for trail infrastructure specifically because walking trails are good for our health, economic drivers of tourism and new resident immigration, and a desirable form of public transportation.
Frankly, I’d think less of a City government that turned away from our single most defining feature to appease any private interest, and I’m absolutely thrilled that Castlegar has finally begun the brass tacks process of developing a master plan for our riverfront and thankful for the checks and balances available in our democratic system that ensure that one subset of resident doesn’t get to derail public policy and process as it unfolds.
Janna L. Sylvest
Castlegar