Cedar residents are expressing concern about work that is proposed for Boat Harbour Marina.
The Regional District of Nanaimo has received a development permit application for the marina from Tiara (BHM) Holdings Inc. Jeremy Holm, regional district manager of current planning, said the owners seek to redevelop and reconfigure the marina and add parking, which would involve adding some fill.
The regional district is only responsible for anything within 15 metres of the natural boundary, which based on the initial application, involves “the construction of the parking placement and the fill,” said Holm.
Anne Fiddick, a Cedar resident, has concerns about the environment and trail access, which she said has been blocked.
“We understand that it will be gated off at the end of Kendall Road and ... [it] is public road and to have a gate at the end so you can’t even go on to the beach, and for someone to build their private parking lot there, I think is contrary to public access common law, if not stated law, and it’s probably going to be harmful to the marine environment there,” said Fiddick.
Zita Hartman, another Cedar resident, is worries about the potential effect of the parking lot work on the local ecology.
“I snorkel there all the time and there’s a beautiful kelp forest and it used to be an old coal dock ... so we’ve been looking into the environmental impact and it’s going to be detrimental, so that’s our biggest concern,” said Hartman.
Roy Ellis and Alvin Hui, who run Tiara (BHM) Holdings, were both on holiday. In a statement, they said some of the reasons the land was fenced off was because it is private property and people were dumping garbage.
Used household items, building materials and abandoned vehicles are among the garbage removed, they said.
In terms of the parking area, they said nothing is being done at this point and they are finalizing reports with experts.
Two separate public meetings on the project will be held. One, organized by citizens, occurs on March 10 at 7 p.m and another, with Ellis and Hui attending, is on March 21 at 6 p.m.. Both take place at the Cedar Community Hall.
Holm said the regional district has reviewed the initial application and the owner is making revisions to the project, which will be presented at the March 21 meeting.
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