With a BC Supreme Court challenge filed Sept. 11 by the Pender Harbour and Area Residents Association on the legality of the swiya-wide dock management plan (DMP) pending, the province opened a new self-registration system for private dock and boathouse owners in the marine area of the shíshálh swiya.
Information the province released Sept. 18 calls the offering “a simple way to secure temporary authorization for existing structures” that will allow owners to “enjoy uninterrupted water access, while it and shíshálh Nation work on finalizing the shíshálh swiya Dock Management Plan for the region." Self-registration system is mandatory for all existing private marine dock and boathouse owners within the swiya (Lang Bay to Roberts Creek), regardless of whether their structures currently have tenure.
Upon completion of what is described in the release as a “straightforward” self-registration, owners of structures on tidewater moorages will receive an interim general permission authorization. This will grant them continued use of their waterfront structures during a three-year transition period in which a review of the self-registered docks and boathouses will occur. Following that, structures deemed “eligible” will be transitioned to a 20-year renewable authorization.
Starting this September, owners of such structures have 10 years to replace Styrofoam flotation systems and float decking with environmentally friendly alternatives such as encapsulated or non-Styrofoam materials and light-penetrating decking options. Should Styrofoam be actively breaking apart on an existing dock or boathouse, owners must replace it with encapsulated Styrofoam or a non-Styrofoam flotation system that ensures light penetration through the structure to the sea floor within two years.
Following a recommendation from the plan’s community Advisory Group, forwarded to the province and the Nation earlier this year, new regulations related waterfront infrastructure on freshwater moorages are currently on hold. According to the province’s website “a literature review and mapping of habitat is completed” related to those moorages. Once updated regulations are finalized, “existing tenured and untenured dock owners in freshwater will be expected to comply with any mandatory requirements and encouraged to adopt best management practices, similar to the process followed within the marine environment."
