Editor's note: This story has been edited to remove a date of finalization of the agreement.
Just under seven hectares of environmentally sensitive land in the long contentious Gospel Rock development in Gibsons will be permanently protected.
“Working together to realize conservation goals has ensured a legacy that we can all be very proud of,” executive director of The Land Conservancy of Canada (TLC) Cathy Armstrong said in a press release announcing the covenant registered on title to permanently protect 6.72 hectares of the site.
TLC, the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association (SCCA), the Town of Gibsons and area developer Greenlane Homes are parties to the agreement. The covenant protects a mature douglas-fir – western hemlock/salal dry maritime forest that includes six ecological communities. The protected area provides habitat for a rich diversity of flora and fauna species, said the release.
Locally based efforts to save environmentally sensitive portions of the 19 hectare (47 acre) Gospel Rock development site have been ongoing for more than three decades. Community group, the Friends of Gospel Rock Society was a driving force in that work. The group’s chairperson, Dan Bouman, said in the release, "I am absolutely delighted to see that decades of advocacy and public engagement has resulted in a conservation covenant for Gospel Rock forests and waterfront. This is the highest level of ecological protection available for private land in B.C."
While not a party to the agreement the “Friends” are one of the longest standing member groups of covenant signatory the SCCA.
“The SCCA is pleased and relieved to participate at long last in the conservation of most of the rare ecosystems of the Gospel Rock waterfront and hillside. We are grateful for the community activism that persevered and the coming together of all the partners to create a permanent solution to the survival of this special place! Our hope is that the fawn lilies, pink sea blush, alligator lizards, the forest trees and the underground mycelium connecting it all will continue to thrive and be cherished by our community,” SCCA chair Lee Ann Johnson remarked in the release.
A statement from Town Mayor Bill Beamish noted that the covenant is an achievement, a milestone and an example of responsible development and environmental conservation. “I hope this is just the beginning,” Beamish said.
Town development permits were issued for the site in October 2020, based on a proposal to transform the location into a mixed residential and commercial development including up to 360 homes. In August of that year, property owner Greenlane Homes agreed to preserve wildlife habitat and ecological values in perpetuity on 49 per cent of the property through park land donations and the covenant.
On Jan. 6, 2021 the Town issued a stop work order for a breach of conditions in the site’s development permit. That followed damage to two trees in the lot’s designated conservation area, and an error in the marking of the protected buffer zone edge by the developer. In March, 2021 the Town fined the property owner $900 for damaging protected trees in the area.
The latest information available on the Town’s website related to the development states Greenlane is working to address conditions in the preliminary layout approval, which was renewed by the Town on June 21, 2021.
In the release, Greenlane Homes, Ji Yan stated his company is looking forward to continuing to work with its covenant partners and other organizations “in the ongoing protection of this land, and also the development of the neighbouring Touchstone at Gospel Rock community.”
Greenlane purchased the property in 2016.
