Environmental Impact Assessment - 25 Stillwater - Town of View Royal

Environmental Impact Assessment

25 Stillwater

Town of View Royal

Purpose

At the request of the Town of View Royal (Planner – James Davison), a site visit was completed in the fall of 2014 by Cascadia Biological Services to identify potential riparian/wildlife setbacks for a proposed subdivision located in the Town of View Royal. The Environmental Assessment is required as subdivisions and the associated infrastructure and proposed housing areas require setbacks from waterbodies and/or rare elements (if located). The setbacks are variable depending on the waterbody/attribute in question whether it is a ditch, a seasonal creek, wetland, lake, marine environment, wildlife tree, rare species of plant/wildlife etc. Please refer to Attachment I identifying the proposed study area/subdivision along Stillwater Road as well as Attachment II showing the site location with different subdivision perspectives. A map showing the potential for environmental sensitive species is shown in Attachment III. Typical photographs of the lot and biophysical conditions present at time of survey are presented in Attachment IV.

Background

The owner of the property retained Cascadia Biological Services to determine what watercourses and/or environmentally significant features were present on-site as well as to prescribe what setbacks (if any) that the proposed subdivision should adhere too. Mr. Roy was then to provide the owner with an overview environmental report of the proposed disturbed areas. The site was visited on several occasions in October and November of 2014. The survey crew consisted of Mr. Roy (R.P. Bio.) and a Ms Beth Thompson (Env Tech).

One of the primary goals of the assessment was to determine if any watercourses were present within 30m linear distance from the property lines and if so, fell under the Riparian Areas Regulations (RAR) legislation. The legislation requires a more detailed report for waterbodies if they are located within the proposed study area and/or, the 30m riparian assessment area (RAA) riparian buffer falls within the boundaries of the proposed subdivision/disturbed areas. The Town of View Royal has adopted the RAR legislation. The RAR establishes standard 30m setbacks (maybe greater if in a ravine) from waterbodies.

Environmental Assessment Findings

1. Subject Property – The property has no waterbodies meeting the definition of a stream/lake/wetland under the Riparian Areas Regulations (RAR) legislation within 30m of the proposed subdivision. A RAR report is therefore not required for the project and associated infrastructure. Although no freshwater waterbodies exist, the lot fronts onto 8.80m of marine environment associated with Portage Inlet. This results in a 15m marine setback associated with the Town of View Royal ;
2. Vascular plants and rare ecosystems were assessed for provincial listed status with the British Columbia Conservation Data Centre (Conservation Data Centre: Rare Vascular Plant/Vegetative Communities Tracking List – South Island Forest District - 2014). The vegetation assessment of the property resulted in no red/blue listed species within the boundaries of the study area except for the odd and isolated (<2 specimens) Garry oaks. That being said, the area adjacent to the marine shoreline is still considered ecologically significant as it retains some functional attributes of a Garry Oak ecosystem albeit limited. The subject property therefore is conducive to the subdivision as long as rare elements are protected on-site during the construction period and/or mitigation measures are adhered to as detailed in the recommendations below;
3. Cascadia Biological Services also completed an overview wildlife assessment of the area proposed for development. From our assessment, only 1 stick nests was observed in an older second generation Douglas fir tree located midway up the canopy. Given the nest site and location, the nest most probably belongs to grey squirrels which were seen foraging nearby or possibly to a western crow. No other environmentally significant attributes as determined by the BC Conservation Data Centre (BC CDC) were noted on or within 50m of the proposed subdivision except for the potential of a vascular plant identified as Deltoid Balsamroot of which none were noted during our assessment or that are expected to occur given the on-site conditions and environment.

Recommendations

1. QEP to be on-site during disturbances associated with the subdivision and site laydown;
2. Garry oak trees removal is to be limited to no more than 6 trees. If removal of these trees are required, then revegetation within 100m of the site is required at a ratio of no less than 3:1;
3. One nesting boxes is required as compensation to mitigate the loss of trees in the area required for the proposed subdivision. QEP to determine size and location;
4. Replanting of the 15m marine DPA with native plants is required to mitigate the proposed development;
5. All disturbed areas (post construction) are to be replanted with native plants under the supervision of the QEP.

If you have any questions regarding this assessment, please do not hesitate to contact me by means below.

Regards,

Thomas Roy, R.P. Bio., Cascadia Biological Services cascadiabiological@shaw.ca (250) 888-4864