A property owner is seeking Sicamous council’s approval to replace the waterfront retaining wall on his land near the public marina.
District of Sicamous planner Sarah Martin presented the property owner’s submission to the Planning and Development Committee on Feb. 1, 2023. The owner of 1226 Young Crescent needs council to issue the development permit needed to work on the wall and further on the property, and Martin agreed with development services manager Scott Beeching that the owner has been in conversation with the province and district for a year now.
The shoreline retaining wall will be 4.5 metres high and 30.5 metres long, with temporary piles in place to support the old wall while the work is being completed. The district’s new zoning bylaw allows the wall to be at this height at a minimum of two metres from the lot line, and needs a variance to allow for the height difference from the allowable 1.2 metres. A handrail is allowed to be added because it’s an important safety feature.
As for further development, the owner’s current agreement is up and he will need to have renewed archaeological assessments done to continue building.
Committee member Deb Heap voiced a concern about the current state of the wall, saying that when the lake starts to rise it will get messy and that time is of the essence on this project.
Martin confirmed the owner has Section 11 provincial approval under the Water Sustainability Act to conduct work from Jan. 1 to May 15 of this year while the water is low and fish are not active. The work has to be done by May 15, and Martin said normally this work would have to be done outside of that fish spawning window. The property owner has to follow an environmental management plan to mitigate negative impacts to water quality and fish habitat. At-risk painted turtles also live in the area and are factored into the management plan.
There are also plans for a public, three-metre long walkway on the northwest corner of the property. How much space needs to be taken is yet to be confirmed and the committee decided to wait until the property owner decides what they will develop on the land before pursuing the walkway.
The proposal for the wall replacement will be brought before council at its next meeting although no official recommendation was made during the presentation.
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