A proposal for a mostly megayacht marina in Victoria, British Columbia is facing opposition that should heat up this week.
Victoria International Marina, the development at the center of the controversy, is the subject of a public information session being held tomorrow by the Victoria Harbour Defence Alliance, an organization opposed to its creation. The marina would feature 54 slips for yachts from 65 to 135 feet LOA, with most serving 80-foot-plus vessels. It would additionally feature a yacht club, a coffee house, a restaurant, and an educational kiosk from the International SeaKeepers Society, providing video footage and other details about the health of the ocean.
Even though the location was set aside by Victoria government officials and ones at the higher Canadian and British Columbian levels for development as a marina many years ago, the opponents say there hasn’t been a true public hearing. In a handful of reports published by local newspapers, they additionally claim it poses safety problems for kayakers and seaplanes that frequent the area. The South Island Sea Kayakers Association, for example, says that a private lease of the lots breaches the public’s common law rights as well as Victoria’s own laws. Some performance paddlers also claim the route the kayakers would have to follow through the marina could be impeded by yacht traffic, would be too choppy, and would be too narrow for some of their craft. In addition, they say, an alternate route located between the marina and the seaplane landing strip that was suggested by Community Marine Concepts Group, the developer, doesn’t leave room for error.
Community Marine Concepts Group’s vice president, Bob Evans, counters those latter arguments by saying waves will increase by only one or two centimeters. His company also plans to create a landing dock for kayakers near the coffee house and provide storage for their craft on the dock, which is reportedly lacking elsewhere in Victoria. Community Marine Concepts Group also has the support of the Westbay Performance Paddling Club, The Greater Victoria Marine Air Safety Society, and other aviation organizations. Regarding the claim of a lack of public hearings, Evans says they were indeed held for the original proposal.
Transport Canada, the federal office charged with assessing the project’s potential impact on the harbor and the safety of all the vessels using it, indicated earlier this month that it would hold a public hearing. No date has been announced yet, though it likely will be soon, considering the Minister of Agriculture and Lands, which owns the harbor, anticipates announcing by mid- to late summer whether it will lease the waterfront to the developer. Community Marine Concepts Group also needs a development permit from the city of Victoria.
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