Update: City Council unfortunately voted to approve the full development on Wednesday September 4, despite the developer's own consultants recommending against building in the floodplain. Please email me at naturecitysarah@gmail.com if you are interested in getting involved with next steps. Thank you for your support!

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I'm a landscape architect and ecologist in Parksville, BC, and I'm deeply concerned about a proposed 54-unit townhouse development at 703 Turner Road, partly within the sensitive floodplain along the Englishman / Kw'a'luxw River. This beautiful area is critical for wildlife and adaptation to climate change, and most of the site is within the floodplain of the Englishman / Kw'a'luxw River. The Provincial Riparian Areas Protection Regulation report recommends no permanent buildings be built within the floodplain, but their recommendation is not binding.

The area is immediately next to protected estuary lands, and is currently used by a variety of sensitive wildlife species including bears, owls, and pileated woodpeckers. A wetland along the site supports juvenile salmon and the at-risk red-legged frog species, among many other species. The Englishman / Kw'a'luxw River is provincially designated as a threatened river, and it's our duty to protect it.

I advocate for ecologically-sensitive development and urge that the footprint of the development be restricted to the dry part of the site - based on the current site plans (images below, full report within the council agenda here), there could still be 22 townhouse units without encroaching into the floodplain - thereby helping Parksville still increase housing in the area. Win-win!

Please sign the petition, share it, and send a quick email to council@parksville.ca to voice your opposition to development within the floodplain of this incredibly important river!

Plans below show the site in red outline, with the floodplain overlaid:

More reading:

Nature Trust launches campaign to acquire adjacent land, 130 Shelly Road, to protect sensitive Englishman / Kw'a'luxw River floodplain

"The Kw’a’luxw (Englishman) River provides habitat for all five species of salmon – chinook, chum, coho, pink, and sockeye. It also contains three species of trout – rainbow, cutthroat, and steelhead. Salmon are an iconic and ecologically vital species, with their life cycle providing many benefits for people, wildlife, and the environment. As salmon spawn and eventually die, their nutrients are then dispersed throughout the ecosystem and support the surrounding forests helping to stabilize riverbanks, promote healthy riparian areas and provide food for many different species. 

The area also contains important floodplain, riparian, and forested ecosystems and is an internationally significant habitat for migratory and breeding birds, including over 250 species, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals such as black bear, cougar, deer, river otter, and Roosevelt Elk."