by Jim Cooperman
The arduous campaign to oppose a big-box development on the floodplain near the mouth of the Salmon River, three kilometres west of Salmon Arm, has been successful to date, but the battle is far from over. After a public hearing for rezoning in October that spanned 26 hours over five nights, the city council vote was tied, and thus the rezoning bylaw failed to pass third reading.
Only a few communities in BC have resisted the intrusion of big-box stores. Our efforts began in earnest in May with a rally held on the day the regional district rejected a massive development near the mouth of the Adams River, as connecting one successful campaign with the next one was key. Our campaign followed the classic activist strategy that includes researching the potential impacts, educating the public, building alliances, seeking media exposure and developing a data base.
We reached out to every like-minded organization in the community to form the Coalition for Responsible Development. Our focus was on the negative environmental, economic and social impacts posed by the SmartCentres plan to build 370,000 square feet of commercial buildings and a parking lot for 1900 cars. A rally held downtown during the summer attracted hundreds of people who heard impassioned speeches from community leaders.
We produced educational material that was modelled after the flyer used in Gibsons for the campaign that halted a proposed waterfront development. Thousands of flyers were direct mailed or inserted into the weekly paper, and our group received back over eight hundred forms from volunteers, along with some donations.
The major environmental concern was the proposal to construct an artificial pond close to the river to contain the run-off from the massive roofs and parking lot as well as the water from a creek which would be diverted from the site. Salmon Arm Bay encompasses relatively pristine wetlands that serve as breeding areas for thousands of birds, including endangered Western Grebes. The Salmon River has benefited from massive restoration efforts for its nearly extinct salmon runs, which could be threatened by the development.
The city was considering the development despite a lack of independent comprehensive studies, using instead the reports provided by the developers. We contracted an independent biologist to study the proposal. When city council denied us the opportunity to present this analysis to them, we held a press conference outside city hall, thus garnering extensive media coverage.
A public hearing date was set for September and then rescheduled until October to accommodate the developer. One week prior to the hearing, the developer revised his plans for storm water drainage by moving the pond away from the river. We revised our environmental argument to focus on the potential impacts to the wetlands.
Everyone in our data base, which had grown to over 1500 people thanks to canvassing work, was phoned. As a result, the hearings were packed with supporters who sported “Save our wetlands, No to bad development” stickers and buttons. We overwhelmed the big-box supporters with 196 speakers giving impassioned presentations, while 19 speakers were in favour.
After our victory, there were claims that the “silent majority” was intimidated by our presence. We carried on with our campaign during the November municipal election, with ads, flyers and more phoning. However the big-box boosters also worked the crowds at the hockey games. The election results proved that a silent majority does exist, with a margin of approximately 58 percent in favour of the development.
Fortunately, because more opponents of the development were running for office, there are now four council members opposed and only three in support. There is now talk of a plebiscite, which if held could be most problematic to those opposing the big box centre. And there is no doubt the developers will be back as they paid an estimated $12-million for the property.
***
For more information see www.casssa.ca. Jim Cooperman is president of the Shuswap Environmental Action Society, www.seas.ca
[From WS January/February 2009]