Here is an interesting email exchange between the "Coal Harbour Residence Association" and the "City of Vancouver" in reference to the new Float Plane location.
______________________________
From: Deborah
Sent: September-10-08 2:44 PM
To: 'Potter, Vicki';
Subject: RE: Follow up meeting with jurisdictions
Vicki,
Thank you for promptly forwarding the outcome of the meeting amongst the various jurisdictions. It is difficult to accept the safety issues as presented by the Harbourmaster as enough to override the health, welfare, and safety all the men and women and families who made the decision to purchase residences and create homes in the Harbour Green Community, based upon the original excellent plans that were drawn up and enacted by the City. These Official Plans provided us with the certainty that we all sought in our investment. We are pleased with the way our environment has emerged in accordance with those plans which sensitively divided the waterfront into a number of different activity areas to provide balance, variety and choice. Harbour Green Park provides our community with the long and short views to the mountains across the park, open water areas, and Stanley Park. The plans also acknowledge the importance of providing liveability to the thousands of new residences by deliberately excluding disruptive uses such as marina commercial, pubs, and floatplane moorage.
Not only does the major new public amenity of Harbour Green Park cater to the residents of the Coal Harbour Community, but it also attracts thousands of Vancouverites as well as tourists, especially in the summer when the water park is enjoyed by many, often crowded with children while parents enjoy the peaceful view of Stanley Park and harbour activity. Soon, there will be a new Parks Board restaurant, also oriented towards the water, as per the OCP; and with many open air seats.
The major blight on the horizon, presently, is the temporary float plane facility. The planes permeate the surroundings and everyday lives of the many, many residents who, at the will of the City, have been forced to live in exceedingly close proximity to the daily operations, with their attendant serious issues of noise and air emissions and safety. The residents have been patient with this very long term serious disruption that was never intended to be, with the City’s assurance it truly is temporary; and in the belief they made a wise and informed purchase, based upon the Official Community Plan. Meanwhile, float plane traffic has increased, along with noise and air emissions and safety concerns, causing the residents to become justifiably alarmed at the potential health consequence. It was the residents’ understanding they would be consulted in the development and planning of the new facility; and that their concerns would be respectfully addressed.
You will understand, therefore, the community’s alarm at only recently learning of the currently proposed location of the permanent float plane terminal on the west side of the Convention Centre Expansion, which is not far at all from the present location. Tour boat docking facilities are included, and another floating restaurant which, rumour has it, may accommodate up to 130 patrons! Not only does the spirit of the Official Community Plan appear to have been compromised, but also the liveability of Coal Harbour residents. Vicki, the noise and air emissions are serious concerns! Without using location to mitigate these issues, it is incumbent upon the City and other jurisdictions to properly test and identify the noise and air effects of the float plane operations and to take the appropriate measures to better protect the residents of the Harbour Green Community and Coal Harbour neighbourhood from the adverse health consequences!
Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you again,
Sincerely,
Debbie
Sent: September-10-08 8:20 AM
To: Deborah
Subject: FW: Follow up meeting with jurisdictions
Importance: High
Hello Debbie, Dimas and Roy - I'm following up with you to let you know that representatives from Port Metro Vancouver, Transport Canada, and the City met earlier this week to discuss the issue of floatplane siting. We looked at a variety of scenarios, but in the end the Harbourmaster concluded that for safety reasons, he could not support moving the floatplane terminal any closer to the cruise ship terminal than is shown in the application. The reasons behind this include:
-A 2-sided breakwater is required to mitigate cruiseship wash, and the floatplane operations would be severely compromised if the facility was enclosed to the north and east by a breakwater.
-The floatplane terminal is a far more active facility than the 51 berth marina. The Harbourmaster wants this activity as far away from the cruise ships as possible, given that there could be up to 6 cruiseship movements per day for 6 or more months per year.
-In the event of a cruise ship accident while docking, the level of activity, and hence harm to people, would be less with the marina than with the floatplane terminal.
All the government representatives at the meeting appreciated the difficult role the Harbourmaster has in ensuring safety in the harbour, and all left the meeting in support of his position on this issue. I know this is disappointing to you. The Harbourmaster did reiterate that in the coming months he will be conducting a review, with the participation of harbour users, to assess any modifications that may be needed to ensure continued safety throughout the harbour. This may include looking at the position of Area Alpha. In addition, Transport Canada representatives reiterated that they are working through the process of establishing Vancouver as a certified airport, which may bring with it for you a more focused approach to floatplane regulation.
The Staff report to the Development Permit Board will be concluded in the next week or so, and will be available on the website late next week. I'll send you a link to it as soon as it is available.
I truly thank you for your participation in this process, which has caused all the jurisdictions to come together and review this application in a co-ordinated and comprehensive way.
Regards,
Vicki
Vicki Potter
Assistant Director, Development Services
City of Vancouver
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