For immediate release: February 3, 2017
SAFE Welcomes EDPA Report Results SAANICH, BC. Saanich Action for the Environment (SAFE) welcomes the GP Rollo and Associates Report commissioned by Saanich Council in late 2015 to address its Environmental Development Permit Area By-law. “The report clears confusion and uncertainty around the by-law and addresses inaccurate and misleading information some property owners may have received,” said SAFE committee member Merie Beauchamp. The bylaw, aimed at preserving biodiversity, and which prevents the alteration of land, subdivision and construction unless a development permit is issued, had become a controversial issue in the municipality. Several property owners believed their property’s value had been negatively impacted by the environmental designation. “Clearly this is not so,” said Beauchamp. “The Rollo Report clears up many fears and the misinformation that had come to the fore over the past year, and it provides a way forward for Council on the issue,” she said. SAFE points to 3 key findings in the Report:
“The Report proves Saanich’s EDPA by-law is not negatively impacting property values in Saanich, but the District has work to do to help better educate and inform property owners,” said Beauchamp. The full GPRA report and an Executive Summary are available at www.saanich.ca/edpa. Two earlier reports, submitted by BC Assessment and UVic’s Environmental Law Centre, had arrived at similar conclusions. A 2016 Saanich staff report said that of the 563 building permit applications made in 2015 for single-family properties, only 15 required a development permit. In early 2016, the Office of the Ombudsperson of BC dismissed a citizen group’s complaint that Saanich failed to adequately notify owners of the EDPA by-law when it was brought into practice in 2012. Media contacts: Merie Beauchamp 250.858.9554 Peter Haddon 250.590.3856 Comments are closed.
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