Thanks, Bryson Guptill for revealing what seems to be a bit of greenwashing on the Point Deroche construction. The blame for this mess lies squarely on the shoulders of the government, but the owners had ample opportunity to do the right thing and chose not to, demonstrating that our shorefront is open for exploitation to the highest bidder.
An opportunity squandered
Developer for property at Point Deroche could have built back further from beach
The Guardian (Charlottetown)1 Mar 2023 BRYSON GUPTILL COMMENTARY Bryson Guptill is a retired public servant who worked for many years as a senior policy adviser to the federal and provincial governments in Ottawa and in Charlottetown.
The large ‘cottage’ being built next to the beach at Point Deroche has attracted considerable media attention since photos of the building site were posted on social media in September 2022. Debate on the development raged for weeks in the P.E.I. legislature, with Premier Dennis King saying he would pull the development permit if anything illegal had been done.
In a new twist, the developer has created a website showing photos at the construction site and the old Macandrew house and seawall that were there prior to June 2022.
BUFFER ZONES
The developer claims their new armour stone seawall stops short of the old seawall. They also claim the new build is further back from the edge of bank than the old Macandrew house.
Whatever the merit of these claims, they don’t change the fact that the new armour stone wall and building foundation do not comply with existing buffer zones, setbacks and possibly other regulations. To keep developers from building too close to the public beach, government requires that buildings in high erosion zones like Point Deroche be set back at least 60 times the annual rate of erosion from the edge of the bank.
When the developer removed the old house and seawall, they could have built further back from the beach and the edge of the bank. Instead, government gave them permission to build very close to the water.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Despite restrictions on nonresidents buying larger parcels of land, the developer at Point Deroche received permission to purchase 17 acres that goes back more than one kilometre from the shoreline. They had the opportunity to do the right thing — build back a little further. Instead, they pushed ahead with a plan that flies in the face of climate change realities and sets a bad precedent for other developers who see P.E.I. as a real estate investment dying to be exploited.
They missed the opportunity to respect Mother Nature and show what it really means to be an Islander.
