The Town of Gibsons is moving ahead with changes to its Recreational Water Lease Bylaw to put regulations on the placement of mooring buoys and anchoring barges.
The proposed revisions reflect council resolutions dating back to 2012 around ensuring better protection for eelgrass beds, which are very sensitive to damage from mooring chains and shadows cast by vessels at anchor.
The current bylaw put a general prohibition on moorage in areas where eelgrass could potentially grow. The amendment will replace the blanket ban and, instead, restrict moorage to specific sites.
In a report for the Nov. 21 committee of the whole meeting, the planning department noted that eelgrass beds had been inventoried in 2013. In 2014 staff commissioned a map that included the eelgrass data and laid out a plan for 14 recreational mooring buoys in the area northeast of the Harbour Authority’s lease and three commercial mooring buoys outside the breakwater.
The report also said Town staff met last summer with residents who had expressed concerns about commercial barges moored near the breakwater.
“There are concerns about the visual impact as well as environmental safety of the barges, close to swimming areas,” the report said. “Another concern that has been raised is whether the mooring of barges would contravene the recreational water lease with the province... The owners of barging companies have emphasized that they provide a much-needed service for Keats and Gambier islands. One owner reported that people have commented positively about seeing commercial marine activity in the area.”
Town chief administrative officer Emanuel Machado said one of the goals of the amendments is to “create some order” in a complex area with a wide variety of users. He also said Town staff have been working closely with barge owners while drafting the changes with an eye to ensuring the Harbour remains attractive to commercial operators.
“There’s clearly a lot of business activity here,” Machado said.
The Town’s recreational water lease gives it more control over what happens just offshore from its boundaries than most municipalities, and could also allow it to collect fees for moorage. Machado said at the moment it doesn’t collect a fee for the barges moored in its area, but does require owners to carry insurance that names the Town as covered.
The Recreational Water Lease Amendment Bylaw got first reading at the Dec. 5 council meeting and returns to council for second and third readings Dec. 19.
