Sept 11, 2007 Second Chronicle Herald newspaper article about the Sand Dollar area.
Rose Bay infilling irks environmentalists Owner says he received OK from province, municipality
By BEVERLEY WARE South Shore Bureau
ROSE BAY — Two environmental groups are upset about infilling of an area they say is a coastal wetland in Rose Bay. But the man who plans to build a house there says, "We would never consider developing on a site of ecological or environmental significance or fragility." Grant Oxner, a former Annapolis County councillor now living in St. Agatha, Ont., said in an e-mail interview it never occurred to him or his wife that their plans to return to Nova Scotia would cause such a stir. "The answers we received from the various (provincial and municipal) authorities after meeting on site on a number of occasions, and them doing their own walkabouts at other times, assured us we weren’t (harming the environment)," said Mr. Oxner, who spent the first 41 of his 47 years living in Nova Scotia.
But the Ecology Action Centre says it is shocked permission to build was granted. "I can’t understand how anyone would want to build here," spokeswoman Jennifer Graham said after looking at a photo of two trucks dumping fill on the property. "There is clear evidence there is wetland vegetation on that site where the fill is being put." She said such coastal systems are in a constant state of transition and movement. The centre contacted two scientists who visited the site and agreed it is a coastal wetland. The provincial Environment Department, however, said it is predominantly a sand dune complex.
"There is a small area of wetland on his property, but he’s agreed to work away from that area," department spokesman Bruce Nunn said. Environment and Natural Resources inspectors recently visited the site and determined it is not a wetland. "It has to do with the kind of soil there," Mr. Nunn said. Eric Mills said he has 40 years experience in marine ecology and as a biological oceanographer. "There is no question that this ‘wetland’ is a salt marsh," he says in a written report. He writes that the vegetation is typical of the mix found in a salt marsh and on mud flats and that the area provides crucial feeding grounds for migratory shorebirds, some of which are threatened. Dee Hilburt said he was "crestfallen" when he saw dump trucks laden with soil empty their loads on the property, near Sand Dollar Beach, last week. As a member of Kingsburg Coastal Conservancy, he has been calling for a coastal management program to better protect beaches and marshes. "It’s a shame that it’s happening," he said of the work at the Rose Bay property.
Conservancy chairwoman Marion Homer said she has been in contact with Mr. Oxner and would like him to consider a land swap or selling the property to the conservancy. "I’m not out to make his life miserable, I just want it protected." She filed a detailed complaint Monday under the Environment Act, asking minister Mark Parent to issue a stop work order until the matter has been investigated. Mr. Oxner said he plans to infill about 12,000 square feet of the 64,000-square-foot property, leaving more than the required setbacks and staying well away from the northwest corner where the province says there is a wetland. And he says if he had to do it all over again, he wouldn’t. "This is extremely stressful for everybody."