The second public hearing on the McKee Neighbourhood Plan drew continued concerns Monday night (June 12) about wildlife protection, the preservation of First Nations cultural sites, and the impact on the trail network.
The hearing, held at Matsqui Centennial Auditorium, was required after the previous five-hour hearing had to be redone due to a procedural error.
The first hearing, held March 6, drew about 50 speakers and lasted for almost five hours. This week’s hearing was about two hours and involved around 30 speakers.
Although all comments made at the March 6th hearing remain on record, some chose to reiterate their comments on Monday night.
Among those were First Nations representatives.
Eva Janzen, a natural resource technician with Sumas First Nation, and Sasha Tuttle with the Sto:lo Research and Resource Management Centre – and a member of Sumas First Nation – expressed concerns about the impacts the McKee plan could have on cultural sites and resources.
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They said having more people in the Sumas Mountain neighbourhood could increase the risk of culturally important sites – such as the Thunderbird Caves – being vandalized.
The plan will also remove space that is used for practices such as plant harvesting and put species at risk in further danger, Janzen said.
“The Sumas First Nation do not feel that their cultural, ecological and social concerns have been adequately addressed,” Tuttle said.
Many speakers addressed the potential risks to wildlife. Aleesha Switzer, a biologist with the Fraser Valley Conservancy, said the McKee Neighbourhood Plan categorizes wildlife areas as “open space.”
But she said that can refer to everything from areas critical to the survival of endangered species to a golf course.
She said an additional 65 acres that was designated as open space after the first public hearing is mainly in the steepest areas of the neighbourhood – “areas that were likely undevelopable to begin with.”
“Quality habitat is not at a 40-degree angle,” she said.
Wendy DaDalt of the Abbotsford Mission Nature Club said the plan should go back before city staff.
“The concerns raised about protecting wildlife corridors and hubs, multiple use of open space and habitat, and the overall development scale and footprint still have not been adequately addressed in this plan,” she said.
Others spoke about their concerns that the existing trail network will be destroyed.
Yoshia Burton of the Fraser Valley Mountain Bikers Association (FVMBA) said the McKee Peak trail network attracts about 55,000 users a year.
“No matter how you slice it, we’re deleting it. We may salvage 10 per cent of the trails up there … The lines that are drawn don’t incorporate any of the existing trail networks,” he said of the McKee Neighbourhood Plan.
Gavin Dew with the Abbotsford Tech District – a proposal of Auguston Town Development – said Auguston has been “very clear” in their support of preserving, enhancing and maintaining trails on Sumas Mountain.
He said on May 29 Auguston signed a memorandum of agreement with the FVMBA to work together to “sanction and formalize” both established and future trails on Auguston land.
Dew said they do not support the McKee Village concept as envisioned in the neighbourhood plan.
Among the few people speaking in favour of the plan were Ryan Lucy of Morningstar Homes and Polygon Homes and Suzanne Bolton of Kenny Group.
Bolton said the plan will add 5,000 to 9,000 “desperately needed” new homes to the city “in an organized, structured and cohesive way” that works with the natural topography.
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“It’s a carefully crafted document that will not only help create much-needed housing but it will also provide a map to transition almost 30 per cent of the planned area – or 530 acres – from private ownership to public stewardship, ensuring the natural area and trails are protected for all in perpetuity,” Lucy said.
Mayor Ross Siemens has emphasized that the McKee Neighbourhood Plan will guide future development, and no development applications have yet been made for that area of McKee Peak.
The matter comes back before council on June 26 for consideration of third and final reading of the bylaw that would see the Official Community Plan amended to include the McKee Neighbourhood Plan.
vikki.hopes@abbynews.com
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