Stop Urban Sprawl

Where we stand: Vancouver Island's natural heritage

Welcome to Vancouver Island Community Forest Action Network! BC's smallest environmental group is taking on Vancouver Island's biggest bullies.

Help us:
- Organize action to protect the Wild Coast
- Research rare species and local heritage values
- Document the case for habitat protection
- Consult with communities on development issues
- Publicize urgent news in the public interest
- Challenge unethical development using legal means
- Share skills, strategies and resources with like-minded individuals and supportive groups

The week of March 22, 2010, the BC Supreme Court hears our challenge to the South Skirt Mountain (SPAET Mountain) development, next door to Bear Mountain resort in Langford. At the same time, volunteers are monitoring logging and surveying old growth on the Juan de Fuca lands west of Jordan River on the West Coast of the island.

Thanks to all our supporters, without whom this work would not be possible:

• The Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund at West Coast Environmental Law
• The Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Victoria
• The People's Prom
• Hundreds of people from Langford, Victoria and the South Island - special thanks to each of you!

Wild Coast Convergence

Spring and Summer 2010, southern Vancouver Island, BC

Vancouver Island forests from Port Renfrew to Sooke are facing massive clearcuts and subdivisions, a process locals call "strip it and flip it" or "log.it and flog it." These coastal forests end up barged overseas as raw logs, while island residents are left with trashed watersheds, mudslides, job losses, and urban sprawl on a scale never before seen.

Right now, Western Forest Products and Timber West lands that were once part of a publicly-managed, sustainable logging plan are being clearcut and put up for sale. But the effort to preserve these forestlands in the public interest has strong support from the University of British Columbia, The Land Conservancy, and the Capital Regional District, and the people of Vancouver Island. Now is the time to push hard to retain these lands as forests.

Join us in planning the Wild Coast Convergence - a series of weekends to organize and launch a new season of hope and resistance.

We're defending the land and water - Get ready to join in!

The proposed South Skirt Mountain development, like its neighbour Bear Mountain Resort, would destroy 8,000-year-old native sites and untouched garry oak and arbutus ecosystems. Langford city council is promoting the development, and it has taken the highly questionable step of applying for a federal infrastructure grant to build roads to service the resort and the planned condo development adjacent to Goldstream Provincial Park.

Two sacred caves have already been destroyed by Bear Mountain Resort and the Bear Mountain Interchange.

The South Skirt Mountain development bylaw was approved earlier this year after two contentious public hearings. Vancouver Island Community Forest Action Network, a local non-profit environmental group, is petitioning BC Supreme Court to quash the bylaw for due process violations.

Why Langford's mayor, deputy mayor, and chief planner should resign

^{<- Deputy Mayor Denise Blackwell}
This summer, Langford City Council approved the development re-zoning bylaw for South Skirt Mountain, located between the new interchange on Highway 1 and Bear Mountain Resort. Four landowners propose to build roads and condo towers with over 2800 units adjoining Goldstream Provincial Park to the west and Florence Lake to the east. North of the interchange, a half-built road (Bear Mountain Parkway) zig-zags up South Skirt Mountain to Bear Mountain Resort.

In their haste to approve this development, we submit that Langford's mayor and council have acted in bad faith, ignored due process and disrespected procedural fairness. In addition, their application for a federal grant for the road and the interchange appears to violate the Community Charter, which prohibits municipalities from giving cash grants and other handouts to private companies.

We suggest the best way to restore the public's trust in this council is for Mayor Young, Denise Blackwell, and Matthew Baldwin to resign immediately. The second option would be for all three to recuse themselves from Skirt Mountain-related files and ask an independent agency to open an investigation into this deeply-flawed process.

+ read more

Mayor Stew Young

• We note that at least two of Young's businesses, Alpine Fence and Alpine Disposal, benefit directly from development at Bear Mountain.
• Young is also a member of Bear Mountain's $35,000 golf and country club, according to a document obtained by VIC FAN that appears to be the club's 2007 membership list. Read the list.
• Young's behaviour during the public process indicates to us that he is not capable of being open-minded or fair regarding development on Skirt Mountain.

Deputy Mayor Denise Blackwell

• We understand that Blackwell's position as Administrative Assistant at the provincial Archaeology Branch does not conflict with her role on Langford's council, as long as she refrains from mixing provincial and municipal business
• However, it seems Blackwell crossed that line when she wrote a letter to the Goldstream Gazette stating that there are no sacred sites on Skirt Mountain. ("Misinformation mars interchange project," January 16, 2008.)
• Blackwell says that a member of the Archaeology Branch instructed Langford Council to withhold the South Skirt Mountain Archaeological Impact Assessment from the public. This raises questions about how the decision was reached, and whether Langford is seeking to overturn an existing BC Appeals Court judgment.
• Previous Archaeological Impact Assessments and other reports concerning Skirt Mountain apparently have been withheld.from interested parties routinely for years.

Chief Planner Matthew Baldwin

• We have received several complaints about Baldwin behaving in an unprofessional manner toward those who may be critical of certain development projects, including reports that he is uncooperative, insulting, and obstructive to members of the public.
• In response to a letter that criticized the South Skirt development, Baldwin accused the letter-writer of "an utter lack of rigor for even the most basic research." He went on to characterize Zoe Blunt and others of spreading "fanciful misinformation." He then suggested Langford should take legal action against the letter writer.
• Baldwin then copied the letter, with its defamatory statements, to the writer's employers. Read the letter.

In order to get a wider picture of potential abuses of power in Langford, we are asking for statements from those who feel they have been harassed by council, staff, developers, or their supporters, especially those who may have experienced threats to their livelihoods, threats of legal action, coercion, and selective bylaw or RCMP enforcement. Anyone in this situation is welcome to come forward, either publicly or anonymously. Furthermore, any witnesses to abuse of trust or illegal activity around Skirt Mountain are asked to tell their stories. People can remain anonymous with Caller ID block – dial *67 before the number from any phone. I can be reached at 250-885-8219.

An RCMP complaints investigation is underway concerning selective enforcement in Langford. Investigator Curt Acheson has promised to investigate all complaints, including anonymous ones. Contact moc.kra.norebo|nosehcac#moc.kra.norebo|nosehcac or phone [phone] (Nanaimo - collect calls accepted.)

Thank you to the watchdogs who call in their tips from pay phones and leave plain brown envelopes on our doorstep. Rest assured, we will follow up on all leads.

^{Photo: Pete Rockwell}

Zoe Blunt testifies at the public hearing, March 16, 2009

Langford Planner Won't Apologize for Legal Threats

Earlier this year, the BC Supreme Court upheld our right to criticize the government. But Langford officials apparently didn't get the memo.

In February and March, newspapers and TV cameras showed Langford's mayor berating local residents at a public hearing for the South Skirt Mountain mega-development. Now a city planner who threatened legal action against a critic of the same development refuses to apologize.

A letter from Langford planner Matthew Baldwin to Dr. Karen Wonders, a former BC resident who is now a Gottingen University scholar in Germany, questioned her intelligence, insulted three other people (also critics of Skirt Mountain development), and implied that the city should retaliate against Ms. Wonders for expressing her opinion. Baldwin copied the letter to the director of Dr. Wonder's institute and the president of the university.

I emailed Baldwin on Friday, April 3, to advise him:

"You may be aware that the BC Civil Liberties Association last week sought and received a declaration from BC Supreme Court upholding the Charter right to freedom of speech in a case where a municipality threatened critics with legal action. According to the judge, a city 'lacks any legal basis or right to bring civil proceedings for defamation of its governing reputation, or bring other proceedings of similar purpose or effect, or to threaten to do so.' You should also be aware that your misconduct has cast a pall over Langford's efforts to portray itself as fair and democratic."

+ read more

The email continues: "As a public employee, you are obligated to uphold standards of fairness, especially in regard to public input on land-use decisions… I strongly suggest you take your own advice and consult with Langford's legal council to determine how you will remedy the damage you have caused to Ms. Wonders, myself, and the integrity of the democratic process."

Baldwin refused the suggestion, replying: "I do not feel that it is appropriate for me to discuss this matter with you, nor do I feel that I am under any obligation to provide you with any further explanation."

In related news, an amusing new West Shore gossip blog launched today, promising satire, mockery, and a fresh "public opinion poll" every week. WTF Langford? asks readers "How corrupt is Langford City Council?" and features a photo of Jabba the Hutt labeled "City Planner Matthew Baldwin." View WTF Langford?

More Surprises To Come?

A Small Win! New Hearing for South Skirt Mountain

Our team won the first round, now we advance to the finals! Langford Mayor Stew Young has caved in and scheduled a second public hearing on the massive South Skirt Mountain residential project. The blustery mayor denies there was a problem with the public process, but we're here to educate him!

Everyone is invited to join us with a big thumbs-down to the new condo development proposed for South Skirt Mountain, part of Victoria's Greenbelt and adjacent to Goldstream Provincial Park. "Unlimited height" towers are planned to replace rare garry oak and arbutus bluffs, home to great horned Owls, screech owls, pileated woodpeckers and bald eagles, only 20 km west of Victoria.

+ read more

Does this new public hearing signal the return of democracy to Langford? Will Langford City Council adopt the re-zoning for South Skirt Mountain? Or will they actually listen to the residents who oppose it? Will this hearing get thrown out for lack of due process like the last one? Get a front-row seat for the show! Anyone with an interest can speak at the public hearing. Folks can also send letters by email to ac.drofgnalfoytic|licnuoc#ac.drofgnalfoytic|licnuoc, or by mail to 877 Goldstream Ave, 2nd Floor, Victoria V9B 2X8. Please state plainly if you are opposed to the project (Bylaw 1209) or not. Thank you!

VIC FAN welcomes the new hearing, but Langford Council is still on notice for bad behaviour.

Young told the Goldstream Gazette this week that VIC FAN's demand for an unbiased hearing was "purely a stall tactic and would have happened regardless of the public hearing." He said speakers who brought up water quality and wildlife were "derogatory" and "incorrect" and he has the right to interrupt and insult them. These statements contradict the rules set out by the Local Government Act and fly in the face of decades of case law on the subject of bias at public hearings, according to VIC FAN's legal counsel and experienced municipal observers.

Zoe Blunt, representing VIC FAN, said the new meeting is good news, but the proceedings will be closely monitored.

"We have the right to speak without being insulted at public hearings," she said. "We are standing up to initimidation and we are asking for proper public process."

VIC FAN has noted several times that Young's belligerent pro-development stance isn't likely to win the hearts and minds of Langfordites. Today, we're warning him that continuing to bash environmentalists could backfire.

Young's behaviour comes dangerously close to tainting the entire public process for South Skirt Mountain. His latest comments, published in the Gazette March 6, further demonstrate the mayor's disregard for his own constituents and their legitimate concerns about unchecked development and urban sprawl alongside Goldstream Provincial Park.

VIC FAN Puts Land-Use "Bullies" On Notice

^{Video: CHEK News report for February 24, 2009}
VIC FAN is challenging a public hearing where Langford's mayor verbally abused residents opposed to the Bear Mountain Parkway and South Skirt Mountain Village development. News reports from the hearing on February 23 show an angry Mayor Stew Young browbeating a retired schoolteacher, calling her remarks "negative" and telling her to "sit down." Other speakers were repeatedly interrupted and confronted by the mayor, who had earlier told reporters that he believes the development should be approved regardless of the public's objections.

VIC FAN has also learned that the city and the developers have failed to consult with the Tsartlip First Nation, which claims SPAET (Skirt) Mountain as part of its traditional territory. For thousands of years, the mountain has been a shared site where families from the Esquimalt, Songhees, Tsartlip and other First Natons would gather for ceremonies and celebrations.

Now VIC FAN is demanding a new public hearing on the South Skirt Mountain development. A February 27 letter to Mayor Stew Young and Langford City Council spells out several violations of the Local Government Act, and warns that if Langford adopts the controversial Skirt Mountain rezoning bylaw, it could be quashed by the Supreme Court.

^{Zoe Blunt of VIC FAN with local supporters at Langford City Hall, February 27, 2009. Photo: Edward Hill/Goldstream News Gazette staff}

+ read more

"We've put the City of Langford on notice that we won't tolerate berating, bullying and browbeating citizens who raise legitimate concerns about environmental destruction," said VIC FAN member Zoe Blunt. "These neighbours want to protect wildlife habitat and water quality for the enjoyment of the whole community, and the way they're treated at a formal hearing is absolutely appalling."

Generous donations from local residents to a legal trust fund have allowed the group to retain Irene Faulkner, one of Canada's top social policy lawyers. In the letter to Langford's mayor and council, Faulkner notes that:

- Pertinent documents, such as an archaeological report, were not made available to members of the public;
- Some speakers were interrupted and berated by the Mayor;
- Audience members heckled and jeered at speakers.

The letter continues: "Such conduct suggests that those charged with making the decision were not amenable to any persuasion, but rather went through the motions of holding a hearing with a totally closed mind."

Provincial statutes and past Supreme Court cases set a clear standard for public hearings on land use, which are considered "quasi-judicial" and expected to maintain "courtroom-like decorum."

The controversial South Skirt Mountain Village proposal includes 2800 housing units, a village centre and an ecological centre that will decimate the remaining native garry oak and arbutus ecosystems on the steep hillside east of Goldstream Provincial Park and south of Bear Mountain Resort. The west side of the development plan abuts the Florence Lake neighbourhood.

Mayor Young revealed at Monday's meeting that the city is seeking federal and provincial infrastructure funding for the South Skirt plan, in addition to the Bear Mountain Parkway and the Spencer Road Interchange, which are already under construction.

The interchange project and Bear Mountain Resort itself have been dogged by protests from environmentalists and First Nations people since November 2006. Two caves considered important cultural sites were destroyed during the construction of the interchange and the resort's second golf course last year. In February 2008, more than 60 RCMP officers raided a protest camp and arrested five people. Their charges were later dropped, and a Public Complaints Commission investigation is ongoing.

^{Video: A Channel news report}

Western Forest Products Open House "Hijacked"

Western Forests Products, the company attempting to turn thousands of hectares of forest land into subdivision development, held an open house on September 9, 2008 in the town of Shirley, BC.

VIC FAN volunteers, along with members of Dogwood Initiative and other environmental activists from the region took control of the event and turned it into a public meeting, a move the media has been calling 'guerrilla organizing'.

Hundreds attended this spontaneous rally, demanding that WFP withdraw their subdivision application and help facilitate more public participation in forest land management decisions.

For its part, WFP sent a lone representative to its own event; chief operating officer Duncan Kerr, who is slowly learning that destruction of forest lands in this region is something the public will not tolerate.

VIC FAN volunteers are committed to keeping this issue in the public eye, collecting comments, information, scientific data, and being on the ground to witness the violations that this company are committing, such as unapproved subdivision work in the Sandcut Creek area.

Keep visiting this site for the latest on this issue.
See the mainstream media's story of VIC FAN's 'guerrilla organizing'.

Forest Land or Urban Sprawl? Who decides?

We are walking along the bed of a stream older than any European settlement on this island. The water is clear and bright, I dip my cup in and feel perfectly refreshed. We are on the site of a proposed suburban development put forward by Western Forest Products near Jordan River. Although the project has yet to be approved work appears to be continuing here none the less. We reach some flagging tape marking the point where WFP wishes to put a residential street, one of many that will crisscross this stream.

The CRD has passed a bylaw that prevents the subdivision of this land into small parcels specifically to prevent this type of development, however Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA Ida Chong sat on it just long enough for WFP to get their land use application in. They have therefore saved themselves from these conditions through a grandfather clause.
-Lucho

For an overview of the Jordan River Land Transfer Controversy, visit www.savejordanriver.com

VIC FAN: On The Ground in Jordan River

VIC FAN volunteers have joined the broad coalition of First Nations, environmental, community, recreational and business groups that have been working to stop the subdivision of thousands of hectares of forest in the Jordan River area.

VIC FAN's work in the field enhances and supports the work being done to protect these forests by surveying the lands on the ground, identifying species and risk and compiling scientific data and public testimonials.

VIC FAN volunteers make regular excursions in and around the proposed subdivision lands to assess the progress of work being done and to document the impacts on the land.

Our goals are to provide logistical support and information to those opposing development in the area and to build a picture of the forest ecology in this region, to create a sense of connection to this land and share with others the joy of learning about the natural world around us.

If you share a connection to and love of this forest land, know of sensitive areas you'd like to see surveyed and assessed, or just want to share your thoughts, opinions and feelings about this area, please send us an email at moc.liamg|noitcatserof#moc.liamg|noitcatserof, or participate in our online discussion forum.

VIC FAN's work is driven by the needs and demands of the people most closely connected to the land. Your advice, opinions and suggestions are how we determine where to conduct our research.

Please consider supporting the work we do with a donation. At this time we are completely volunteer driven, and funds for the program go towards outfitting our field camps and excursions and transporting volunteers into the field. We would also like to be able to provide compensation to scientists, First Nations elders and other local experts who take time to join us on these expeditions and help us with our work.

Volunteers are also welcome to join us, regardless of your level of ecological knowledge. A love of the land is essential.

News report: 'Langford Rebellion' report draws insults from Bear Mountain Proponents.