As I took my seat at the CBRM’s chambers on Tuesday, February 20^th for the open hearing on Zoning Amendment 1037, I felt confident that I would witness a solid case for rejecting spot zoning in Big Pond.

And I did.

I also wanted Chris Skidmore to clarify some confusing things about his proposal to build a 500-600 unit RV Park in Big Pond.

I remember the day I first saw the image for the water-play park and a sandy beach, described on the developer’s Facebook page promoting the RV park in Big Pond in this way: “The beach area occupies over 1000 feet of sandy shorelines.”

Here is the exchange that I had with whoever was typing answers for the Big Pond RV Park Facebook page.

So, I did not get a direct answer to my second question on Facebook, but I did know that a 1,000-foot sandy beach was being promised - and that there was no such beach on the location.

To rip up the shore of a pond that is important to the ecological health of the Bras d’Or Lake should obviously not be allowed in Cape Breton, where we are fortunate to have many existing beaches.

Chris Skidmore did not talk about his plans for creating a sandy 1,000-foot beach at the public hearing on Zoning Amendment 1037. This is surely crucial information for the councillors who must decide whether to change zoning laws in Big Pond to allow the tearing up of a natural shoreline on the Bras d’Or Lake.

I decided to do some research: I downloaded this image from the Big Pond RV park Facebook marketing page:

I then used Google’s image search to search for this exact image online. And I found it – it is an image of an existing water-play park called Whoa Zone at Whiting, Indiana on Lake Michigan.

Obviously, you cannot take a photo of something that does not, and may never, exist, such as a water-play park on a shoreline in Big Pond.

But this does not mean that you should present a photo of an existing water-play as a concept for a proposed water-play park, without identifying it as what it is.

(You can duplicate my image search and see how easy it is to find this image of Whoa Zone at Whiting, Indiana on Lake Michigan.)

This is a strange part of what has been, thus far, a strange story.

Mr. Skidmore stated that there will be 4-million dollars spent on phase one of his project. According to PayScale, a company that publishes information about salaries and pay rates, the median hourly pay rate for a concept artist is $18.78 an hour.

I ask this question: Why would a developer not pay a concept artist to come up with an image of his site but use an unlabelled photo of an existing site?

I am not an expert on how developments come together, but I know that developers must not cut corners, and must show a fiscal commitment to their projects from the beginning, otherwise how can we believe that more important corners will not be cut later?

Also, Mr. Skidmore shared that he has been working on this project for three years, but had no business plan to share with us at the open hearing.

I do not understand why.

Back to the water-play structure

I did learn that the water-play structure at Whiting, Indiana on Lake Michigan is held in place by “About 68,000 pounds of concrete anchored Whoa Zone to Lake Michigan’s sandy floor, along with a series of connections and large bungee cords that adjusted as waves swell or water levels recede.” And that Hurricane Harvey did it in:

I live in a rural community in Cape Breton. I ask the CBRM council to leave its zoning laws as they are. I want the Bras d’Or Lake to be carefully cared for.

I do not believe that Mr. Skidmore made a convincing argument for his project on February 20, 2018 – we, and the CBRM council, simply did not learn enough about what he plans to do.

For example, 68,000 pounds of concrete sounds like a lot of concrete – how is Mr. Skidmore planning to anchor his water-play park?

Mr. Skidmore suggests that we put our faith in government departments that will oversee pieces of this project should it go forward.

I suggest that he present a comprehensive business plan for his project and publicly answer the questions and concerns raised by an engaged community at public hearing.

Please watch the video of the public hearing on the zoning amendment.

http://archive.isiglobal.ca/vod/cbrm/archive_2018-02-20.mp4.html

Please read the written submissions to Council

http://www.cbrm.ns.ca/images/Edited_for_Website_Special_Council_-_Public_Hearing_re_Zoning_Amendment_Application_1037_-_February_20_2018.pdf

Please call your councillor to let them know that rural zoning in Cape Breton is just that, and should not be changed.

Councillor's telephone numbers and email addresses