Growing city treading on sensitive ground

By Kelly Kay

Kamloops’ growing population is a boom for the city but it’s a bust for the surrounding ecosystem.

The current Saddleback Hills development, located at the edge of Grasslands Provincial Park in Kamloops, is causing concern to the Grasslands Conservation Council of B.C. and surrounding neighbourhoods.

"Urban encroachment is one of the biggest threats to grasslands,” Tasha Sargent, Grasslands Conservation Council (GCC) stewardship program co-ordinator, said in an e-mail interview.

“Habitat loss has been a huge factor in the decline of many grassland species. Thirty per cent of the province’s species of risk depend on grasslands for survival.”

The development is also a source of irritation to Brett Nelson, a resident of Batchelor Heights for 13 years.

“It’s ruined the esthetic beauty of the area,” Nelson said. “Because of light pollution, we no longer see the stars at night. We used to be able to sit on the back porch and listen to the crickets and the coyotes. No more.”

There are alternatives to developing grasslands that would help slow the process of encroachment, Sargent said.

“Ideally, the city should focus on areas that are already developed as areas for re-zoning, revitalization for older neighbourhoods or industrial areas,” she said. “This creates a blend of community development and economic growth while maintaining the ecological and social values that grasslands provide for communities.”

Dave Carlson, deputy approving officer/planner for the city of Kamloops, says the area has been zoned for residential use for 25 years and that in 1997 the Batchelor Hills Land Use Plan was completed in consultation with the provincial Ministry of Environment and Range Management section.

He said the development provides an important economic benefit.

 “From an economic perspective, the 45 lots in phase one represent an immediate investment in construction and materials and labour,” said Carlson. “The cost of new homes themselves plus decorating and landscaping by the homeowners will cause the actual expenditure [as revenue] to be much higher."

But, Carlson said, the benefits to the surrounding neighbourhoods go well beyond money.

 “From a neighbourhood perspective, Saddleback Hills, specifically, has provided the opportunity to improve the deficient firefighting water supply to the Alpine Terrace neighbourhood and provided an emergency road connection that can be jointly used by Westsyde and Batchelor Heights residents, should it be necessary," Carlson said.

Grasslands offer a beauty that attracts people, presenting the challenge of balancing preservation and economics.

“People move to areas with these beautiful attributes, such as grasslands,” said Sargent. “It makes no sense to develop and destroy the very aesthetic values that people appreciate.”

However, Carlson said construction is being carefully planned to protect important natural areas.

“Significant areas of the grasslands within and adjacent to the city are protected such as the Grasslands Provincial Park," he said. " Within the immediate vicinity of Saddleback we are protecting the steep hillsides and natural drainage courses as open space for pedestrian use and as wildlife corridors. We have also established two park areas; one as active play fields, the other as a passive use area.”

From 2003 to 2004, Kamloops’ population increased 0.9 per cent, according to B.C. Statistics.  Venture Kamloops predicts a 1.25 per cent population growth annually during the next five years

Not all of the development boom can be attributed to a growing population. Rising house prices have also led to an increase in internal movement as more and more Kamloops residents try to capitalize on rising house prices.

Coralee Mitchell has moved three times in the last year, all within Kamloops. She says there is an easy availability of homes to buy and that selling her own home took anywhere from four days to four weeks.

“We continue to move to take advantage of the market and to make money,” Mitchell said.

Sargent said B.C. grasslands are in danger but the effects could be minimized if the political will is there.

 “Increasing pressure from urban expansion, subdivision and development…threatens the long-term sustainability of our grasslands. Relative to other regions of Canada where most of the grasslands have been lost B.C. still has an opportunity to manage and conserve our valuable grassland heritage,” Sargent says.