The Brochure “Sharing our Shorelines ” was produced in 2013 by members of the Metchosin Environmental Advisory Committee. It reflected the values outlined in the Shoreline Report published in the fall of 2013.
This document is available also on the District of Metchosin website:
The Metchosin Environmental Advisory Select Committee of Metchosin District submitted this report to Council in June 2013.
See the complete report as a PDF: Metchosin Shoreline Report 2013June 10-2
Executive Summary
The unique values attributed to the Coastal Areas of Metchosin have been recognized both historically and by outside researchers. They have also been outlined at length in the Official Community Plan and other documents produced for the District.
The objective of the Metchosin Shoreline Report is to provide Mayor and Council with a background document and decision-making tools for issues related to Metchosin’s shoreline environment: the jurisdictional boundaries are delineated; examples of ecologically sensitive areas are highlighted; and the biological and geographical values of eight zones of the forty-five km of shoreline are profiled.
The values of biodiversity, education, natural capital, aesthetics, philosophy, and ecotourism are all affected by our coastal areas. Therefore, the risks from human activity on the sustainability of these areas are emphasized.
With the increasing likelihood of changing climatic events impacting on our shoreline, and in order to mitigate these risks, a number of recommendations are proposed for the Municipality to implement:
See the complete report as a PDF: Metchosin Shoreline Report 2013June 10-2
From the Official Community Plan : Available at this link
DPAs in Metchosin ( click to enlarge)
2.16 SHORELAND SLOPES DEVELOPMENT PERMIT AREAS:
The Municipal Act
provides that a community plan may designate development areas to be protected from hazardous conditions. The Municipal Act further provides that in such areas land shall not be altered in any way or subdivided and structures not be built or added to until a Development Permit has been issued. Council has established the following designation, special conditions, and guidelines.
2.16.1 Designation: (Bylaw 418, 2004)
The 1993 Hazard Land Management Plan has identified areas of the Metchosin shoreland slopes as having erosion, land sloughing and drainage problems.
Farhill Road portion of DPAs,
Parry Bay ( Taylor Beach ) section of DPA lands
The Shoreland Slopes areas are shown on Map 6 Shoreline Slopes DPA, and are hereby designated as areas for the protection of development from hazardous conditions pursuant to Section 919.1(1)(b) of the Local Government Act.
The Plan has identified three Shoreland Slope classification zones, based on the degree of slope instability and surface erosion potential. Slopes classified as zone 2 and 3 are slopes with the greatest potential for sloughing, slumping and debris flows and have been included in the Development Permit Area.
2.16.2 Special Conditions:
The major concern is that lands, particularly in the Park Drive – Farhill Road area, have experienced a dramatic rise in ground water levels due to adjacent developments during the last two decades. Other areas of the Shoreland slopes have experienced significant slope erosion in the past. There is a community desire to mitigate any further development related impacts on the marine shorelands.
2.16.3 Policies Development Permits issued shall be in accordance with the following:
(1) The construction or alteration of buildings on existing lots shall be permitted subject to the Building Permit process when Council is satisfied that the Development Permit Guidelines (Section 2.14.4) have been met, and, when required, Council is satisfied with the Engineer’s Report (Section 2.14.5).
(2)Where a Development Permit is applied for in conjunction with an application for subdivision approval, rezoning, or both, the Development Permit shall be conditional on the successful completion of those other permits and shall lapse if the subdivision or rezoning is not approved.
2.16.4 Guidelines:
(1) All applications for new development in the Development Permit Areas shall be required to have an Engineer’s Report (described below).
(2) Removal of vegetation shall be minimized.
(3) House construction, regrading, and excavation of till (including for road building) is not permitted within 60 metres of the edge of the slope except where geotechnical engineering and resource management studies indicate that a lesser setback is acceptable.
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2.16.5 Engineer’s Report:
Before a development permit is issued, the applicant shall be required to furnish a report at his\her expense from a registered professional engineer with geotechnical experience which will certify that the proposed development will produce no adverse impacts on the shoreland slopes and will not place buildings or structures in danger of slope slippage.
The Engineer’s Report shall demonstrate that consideration has been given to the following:
(1)(a) siting and setbacks of development structures, roads, and services,
(b) minimizing paving and impervious materials, and,
(c) implementing infiltration techniques so as to limit runoff;
(2) designing runoff detention ponds, drainage works, or
sediment traps or basins to reduce the flow of runoff and silt during land clearing and construction.
(3) development near shoreland slopes must address the impact of surface water on slope stability, vegetation and soils, and make recommendations to remedy that already damaged; and
(4) removal of trees (with a valid tree-cutting permit) or other vegetation should be allowed only where necessary and where alternate vegetation and/or erosion control measures are established. If possible, stumps should be left in place to provide some soil stabilizing influence until alternative vegetation is established. Plans delineating extent of vegetation/tree removal (location, species and diameter of trees) and location of proposed construction, ex cavation and/or blasting, may be required.
The DISTRICT, at its discretion, may also submit the Engineer’s Report to review by a second Engineer at the applicant’s expense, and/or directly to the Ministry of Environment for their comments.
2.16.6 Municipal Response,
The DISTRICT should:
(1) evaluate the feasibility of purchasing environmentally sensitive shorelands for use as park, forest reserve, or greenbelt;
(2) initiate programs to monitor both surface and ground water to establish patterns of change;
(3)work with proximate agencies to establish erosion and land sloughing control measures.
The PDF of this report from 2007 may be viewed in it’s entirety here:
Blue-green-spaces-Document
Note in particular: page 4 : TYPES OF GREEN and BLUE SPACES
part 5. Marine Areas.
a. Nearshore marine areas: These areas occur along the coastlines of Metchosin. They are productive nursery areas and habitat for marine life, and include eelgrass beds, kelp beds, and subtitle rocky areas.
b. Marine shorelines: these are areas of natural shoreline on land. They are an important part of the scenic character of the community, contain recreational trails or beach access points, and provide a buffer between buildings and natural dynamic processes such as shoreline erosion. Examples include rocky marine shorelines and beaches [especially between Helberg had and church island], tidal lagoons, estuaries and offshore islands.
Under recommendations —Municipal governments:
Link: The CRD Blue-Green report
Documents Presented in the past to Metchosin Council
There is a history of concern about the values associated with the coastal part of Metchosin, the following examples illustrate this.
From the Official Community Plan of Metchosin, the following references pertain to Marine Shorelands.
Section 2.6 MARINE SHORELANDS:
Definition: Within Metchosin, there are Rocky Shores, Drift Sector Beaches, Pocket Beaches, Low- Energy Shores and Lagoon Ecosystems, as shown on Marine Shorelands, Map 5. In addition, the two types of beaches are further categorized into three distinct classes of beach based on the accretion and erosion characteristics. The combinations of shore categories and distinct beach classes produce a diverse range of marine shorelands. Most of the geotechnical and environmental concerns about shores relate to the processes of drift and accretion along the shore and the process of slope regression above the shores.
(a) General Marine Shoreland Policies:
2.6.1 The District of Metchosin may give consideration to the following:
. (1) discuss with senior levels of government for coordinating future land use policies as they pertain to the management of Metchosin’s marine shorelands.
. (2) monitor shore processes with particular concern for slope regression rates,lateral drift rate and stability of Class I accretion beaches.
. (3) determine,in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, ways and means of undertaking:
(a) where desirable and feasible, a program of beach stabilization using natural nonstructural techniques, such as the planting of dune grasses where appropriate;
(b) beach enhancement programs wherever it is possible to upgrade a Class II beach to a Class I beach (see Definitions of beaches); and
(c) the removal or reduction of development intrusions not consistent with the maintenance of the shoreline.
2.6.2. The set back requirements specified in this Section may be increased as local conditions warrant.
2.6.3 The improvement of public access should be ensured in the course of land development where such access is not detrimental to Sensitive Environments.
2.6.4 Any desired works to be placed on foreshore lands from the mean high water mark seaward requires application to the appropriate provincial and/or federal government agency responsible.
2.6.5 Public recreational use of marine shorelands should be consistent with the suitability of each shore type for the proposed use.
(b) Rocky Shores:
Definition: Rocky shores are stable shores comprised of exposed bedrock with an absence of unconsolidated material at extreme low tide. Relative to other types of shores, they are low in biological productivity but rich in biotic diversity and aesthetic quality and are characterized by lichens, snails, barnacles, mussels, seaweeds, anemones and sea stars.
. 2.6.6 No building or structure shall be located and no fill shall be placed or removed from any site within 15 horizontal metres (50 feet) of mean high water on Rocky Shore slopes except where engineering and resource management studies indicate that a lesser setback is acceptable.
. 2.6.7 Although the biological capability of Rocky Shore slopes to support life is relatively low, the natural biota may provide habitat for rare species of animal life and that value should be considered with each development proposed.
(c) Drift-Sector Beaches:
Definition: A Drift-Sector is an integrated and independently operating erosion beach system which may extend for many miles in length and be separated from adjacent drift-sectors by either natural or artificial boundaries. Metchosin contains one large drift-sector extending from Weir Beach to Witty’s Lagoon. A drift-sector generally contains the following three classes of beaches:
Class III Beaches are erosional beaches located at the base of coastal bluffs or cliffs from which sand and gravel is provided for accretion of Class I beaches further along the drift-sector. Class III beaches are totally submerged at high tide with no dry backshore berm.
Class II Beaches are marginal erosion beaches located at the base of coastal bluffs or cliffs from which sand and gravel is eroded providing a secondary source of beach material for accretion on Class I beaches further along the drift-sector. Class II beaches are largely submerged at high tide with only a limited amount of walkable dry backshore under such conditions.
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Class I Beaches are the accretion terminals of a drift-sector where material eroded from Class II and III beaches is deposited. Class I beaches remain dry and walkable at high tide and have a large backshore berm permitting ease of public access and use. They constitute the most important recreational beaches. Biotically, beach shores are of intermediate productivity and diversity relative to the other shore types.
. 2.6.8 The use and management of the Drift-Sector Beaches should be based on the maintenance of the present natural system of erosion, transport and build up of beach material along the length of the Drift-Sector designated on Map 5.
. 2.6.9 Because the existence and maintenance of the Class I beaches are dependent on the supply of material eroded from Class II and III beaches, no bulkheading or placement of any shore protection structures will be permitted within a drift-sector except where engineering and resource management studies indicate otherwise.
. 2.6.10 To ensure that material eroded from Class II and III beaches is transported the full length of the shoreline to Class I beaches, docking or other facilities which impede the natural processes will not be permitted within drift-sectors.
. 2.6.11 Due to active slope recession with considerable sloughing and slide evidence, no building or structure will be permitted within a minimum of 60 horizontal metres (200 feet) from mean high water adjacent to Class II and Class III drift-sector beaches except where geotechnical engineering and resource management studies indicate a lesser setback is acceptable.
. 2.6.12 On the slopes adjacent to Drift Sector Beaches, no material of any kind shall be removed within a minimum of 60 horizontal metres (200 feet) landward of mean high water.
. 2.6.13 The location of the mean high water mark and the establishing of setbacks from Class II and Class III slopes should be reviewed at 5 year intervals, or as required, to determine if slope regression has placed residences at risk.
(d) Pocket Beaches:
Definition: A Pocket Beach is a sand and gravel beach along which no lateral drift of beach material takes place because it is contained between two headlands. The Pocket Beach is formed by the onshore and offshore movement of material. Pocket beaches are generally between 30.5 metres (100 feet) and 91.5 metres (300 feet) in length.
With Pocket Beaches, as with Drift-Sector Beaches, there are three classes. However, unlike the classes of Drift-Sector Beaches which are contained adjacent to one another within the Drift- Sector. Each class of Pocket Beach exists independently.
Class III Beaches are erosional beaches located at the base of coastal bluffs or cliffs with no dry backshore berm. Such beaches are totally submerged at high tide.
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Class II Beaches are marginal erosion beaches located at the base of coastal bluffs or cliffs that supply the upper foreshore with a fairly heavy drift berm without creating a stable dry backshore zone above high tide.
Class I Beaches are rollback pocket beaches characterized by a backshore wetted only under extreme tide and wave conditions permitting ease of public access and use. They constitute the most important recreational class of beach.
. 2.6.14 No building or structure shall be located and no fill shall be placed or removed from any site within 15 horizontal metres (50 feet) of mean high water adjacent to Class I and Class II pocket beaches except where engineering and resource management studies indicate that a lesser setback is acceptable.
. 2.6.15 Because Class III pocket beaches are located at the base of cliffs which are subject to erosion, no building or structure, no placing or removal of fill or other material will be permitted within 15 horizontal metres (50 feet) landward of mean high water adjacent to Class III pocket beaches.
. 2.6.16 No bulkheading or placement of any shore protection structures will be permitted on Class I, Class II or Class III pocket beaches except where engineering and resource management studies indicate otherwise.
(e) Low-EnergyShoreZone
Definition: Low-Energy Shores are estuarine shores which form part or all of a cove or inlet. They may be characterized by marshy shores, shallow and muddy foreshores, and generally having low banks. As with Pocket Beaches, there are three classes of Low-Energy Shores each existing independently. However, in Metchosin, there is only one Low-Energy Shore – entirely a Class III (erosional) located at the head of Pedder Inlet.
Similar to a Lagoon Ecosystem, the estuarine shore also provides a unique biological environment. Fresh-water creeks and streams flowing into the cove or inlet offer rather unusual habitat. There is currently insufficient information available relating to the protection and preservation of the Low-Energy Shore zones. Therefore, further research is recommended.
. 2.6.17 No building or structure shall be located and no fill shall be placed or removed from any site within 15 horizontal meters (50) feet of mean high water adjacent to the Low-Energy Shore, except where engineering and resource management studies indicated that a lesser setback is acceptable.
. 2.6.18 No bulkheading or placement of any shore protection structures will be permitted on a Low- Energy Shore except where engineering and resource management studies indicate otherwise.
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(f) Lagoon Ecosystems:
Definition: The central component of a Lagoon Ecosystem is a body of salt water which has been cut off from the ocean by a barrier or spit of land and which allows the formation of a sheltered biological environment. This unique environment frequently includes a salt-water marsh and estuarine area into which flows fresh water from upland creeks and streams. This combination of fresh and salt water has very high biological productivity and diversity. It offers significant aesthetic and habitat attributes.
2.6.19 Only such uses as limited agriculture and low intensity recreational uses, which do not require structural intrusion, will be permitted in Lagoon Ecosystems.
In the Sustainability Report of MEASC to Council of 2011: ( This report has been shelved by council ), The following recommendations were made:
Recommendations from Sustainability 2011 Report:
Metchosin’s existing shoreline slopes development permit area, large lots and low density zoning have helped to reduce development impacts along coastlines, and have protected marine coastal habitat and its ability to store and sequester carbon.
Metchosin will help achieve sustainability and resiliency in its coastal areas by implementing the following:
PURPOSE: This draft document was prepared in the 1990s by local resident and International authority on Biodiversity Strategies, Robert Prescot Allen. Modifications and input from the Metchosin Advisory Commission and the students of the Environmental Systems class at Lester B. Pearson College have been included. The purpose of the strategy is to enable the Council and residents of Metchosin to fulfill the commitments to conserve biodiversity as expressed in the Official Community Plan.
2.2.2 To promote the conservation of the biodiversity of the district – the variety of natural communities, native wild species and populations, and domesticated species and populations.
2.2.3 To maintain creeks, streams and inland wetlands in their natural state, by minimizing the impact of development.
2.2.4 To maintain uplands, forested lands and areas with old growth Douglas Fir in their natural state, by minimizing the impact of development.
2.2.5 To manage marine shorelands in a manner compatible with the biological and physical processes acting on and within them.
2.2.6 To identify and preserve sensitive natural environments for future generations and to maintain sufficient lands in their natural state so that rare and diverse plant and animal life will continue to exist and flourish.
2.2.9 To promote the restoration of marginal agricultural and /or previously degraded land to wildlife habitat.
Commitments to conserve biodiversity may also be found in the OCP’s general environmental policies and policies on lakes, creeks and streams; inland wetlands; marine shorelands; wildlife habitat; unique and attractive vegetation and tree cover.
The Garry-Oak Douglas fir zone is probably the most threatened ecological region in North America. It is restricted to southeastern Vancouver Island, The Gulf and San Juan Islands, The Puget trough and Willamette valley ( the rain shadow zone East of the mountains of Vancouver Island, Olympic peninsula and Washington/ Oregon Coast) Most of this zone has already been converted to farms and residential areas or has been heavily modified. Little natural Ecosystem remains. Municipalities that still have significant tracts of this ecological zone have something very valuable and unique. It is an obligation and service to the more urbanized municipalities and to future generations to maintain this heritage.
The ultimate objectives of this strategy are to:
Objective 1: Increase the number of residents who value native species and natural communities and are committed to conserving them.
Objective 2 : Increase social and economic incentives fore maintaining native species and natural communities.
Recommended Steps: Draft a proposal
Council endorses proposal
Provincial government is lobbied to support the proposal
Lobby other municipalities to obtain support.
Objective 3: Increase legal support for maintaining native species and natural communities
Recommended steps: (I) Discuss what an optimal and achievable zoning system based on an ecosystem component approach would look like.
(ii) Prepare a proposal
(iii) Submit the proposal to Council and residents;
(iv) Amend the OCP and Land Use bylaw to accommodate biodiversity.
Objective 3: Improve information on native species and natural communities of Metchosin and on introduced species that threaten them.
Immediate needs:(i) Compile a list of native species (plants; vertebrates; macro-fungi)
(ii) Compile a list of natural communities
(iii) Identify native species of concern( endangered, threatened, rare)
(iv) Identify natural communities of concern (endangered, threatened, rare)
(v) Complete mapping of natural communities.
Objective 5: Improve information on native species and natural communities of Metchosin and on introduced species that threaten them.
Objective 6: Obtain the resources required to maintain native species and natural communities.
The introduced species that are of concern are those that because of their opportunistic nature, have a negative impact on native species and the re-establishment of native species.