In the dark, a group of residents huddled around their vehicles parked on the Oceanfront on Tuesday (March 4).
They had gotten word that an older, unmaintained vessel was about to be towed into the Mamquam Blind Channel, adding to a cluster of anchored boats they say have got to go.
My concern is how narrow the channel is, Pam Potts said. None of those boats are insured. If any of them break loose and hit our boats [at the Squamish Yacht Club], we pay for the damage.
Then there's the environmental side, she said. With no pump-out stations, people living aboard their boats in the channel flush their sewage straight into the waterway, Potts said. Just as the District of Squamish steps into action when a property owner's lot is covered with trash, officials need to take a stand now, she added.
Someone needs to get a hold of the people that own the [water lot] and make them responsible.
The District of Squamish has a bylaw giving it the authority to request landowners within municipal boundaries clean up their properties. However, currently, that doesn't extend to water lots. That could change, Coun. Patricia Heintzman said.
My perspective on this is that if we can't do it on our current bylaw, why don't we change it? she said, noting the amendment would have go through a public process.
The regulation would cover private and municipal water lots or fee-simple ownership of submerged land. Fee-simple titles allow landowners to exercise rights in the same manner as for land, subject to applicable laws.
But it wouldn't touch provincial and federal officials' jurisdiction over coastal waters. While the province owns much of B.C.'s land covered by water and has the same rights over its lands as an owner, the ability to make laws and regulate what goes on in navigable waters is a federal responsibility.
Monitoring boats anchored around the community is no easy task, Heintzman said. If the district takes on that added responsibility, it will come with a cost, she warned. Within the municipal realm, there's a feeling that the federal government is downloading the problem onto the backs of communities, Heintzman added.
It is expensive, she said.
Liveaboards aren't allowed on district water lots, Coun. Doug Race said, noting officials can enforce that rule. However, policing it simply transfers the problem from one area to another, he said, adding Bowen Island currently faces that issue.
Out at Nexen Beach, the ad hoc rally slowly packed up and trickled away when there was no sign of the unwelcome addition to the channel. It's not the end of the battle, they said.
It just breaks my heart to know that when those boats sink, they spill oil and gas into the water, Potts said.
