Indian Arm operation contravenes zoning bylaws

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. VAN FIS
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AN INDIAN Arm fish farm has sgain ceme under fire from
area residents who say the farm's on-shore operation is
continuing to expand contrary to the area's single-family

residential zon!ng.

North Vancouver District staff
are therefore preparing a report to
council outlining the ways in which
the land-based portion of Pacific
Aquaculture Ltd.'s farm conflicts
with area zoning and the legal op-
tions that could be used to force it
into compliance.

CP ae EE ae Be

Slip-
sliding
away

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW
Hews Reporter

Peter Olynyk, the district’s dep-
uty chief building inspector, said
last Wednesday the farm conflicts
with area zoning largely because of

Pacific’s installation of six, 14-foot
diameter wine vats on the proper-
ty.

Pacific Aquaculture general
manager Jim Malamas said the
tanks, which are being used as
rearing tanks for salmon fingerl-
ings, were installed in 1986 after
seven area residents signed an
agreement saying their initial con-
cerns over placement of the tanks
had been resolved.

But Olynvk said the vats were

installed without the knowledge or
approvai of the district. He said
the district only became aware of
the tanks about 18 months ago and
has since received numerous com-
plaints sbout them and the farm
from area residents.

Paul Cromien, who lives next
door to the fish farm, said Pacific
-Aquaculture has continually
overhauled its on-shore facility
contrary to what is allowed under
the area’s residential zoning.

SNOW MEANS braving the cold with a goed old-fas:ioned toboggan ride down
Grand Boulevard on Saturday morming. The Jones family tcok advantage of the white
powder that sprinkled the North Shore Saturday and turned it into a winter
wonderland Sunday. Pictured front to back: Krystale Jones, 3, brother Matthew, 5,

and father Robert Jones.

FARM
DER FIRE

The vats, he said, ‘‘are an in-
credible mess. It’s like living next
to an industrial site. I don’t have
sewer, garbage or water services
here, but I still pay taxes to the
district, and I pay those taxes to
protect the zoning, and I’m not
getting that.’’

Olynyk said district staff have
attempted to find a solution
equitable to both residents and
Pacific Aquaculture, ‘‘but there
seems to be no compromise.”

Therefore the district, he said,
“may have to enforce its bylaw.””

He added that the only way for
the fish farm’s land-based oper‘-
tion to conform to area zoning
would be for all existing equipment
and processing to be done within
an occupied single-family dwelling.

Pacific Aquaculture applied in
December to the district for a
variance order to permit the pres-
ent non-conforming fish farm
operation on the property, but
Olynyk said he doubts whether
council would have the authority
to approve such a zoning variance.

The original aquaculture licence
for the Indian Arm fish farm,
which was approved in 1974 and
was one of the first in B.C., was
granted as a legal non-conforming
use in the primarily residential-
recreational Indian Arm area.

But the original farm was
small-scale and Jargely experimen-
tal. Pacific Aquaculture took it
over in 1984 and has converted the
operation into a commercial
business.

Malamas has said the farm,
which is just off Orlomah Beach
about five kilometres north of
Deep Cove, contributes to the local
economy and presents no threat to
the Indian Ann environment.

Pacific Aquaculture, according
to Malamas, has invested $500,000
in upgrading the fish farm since
1984.

He said the company has also
spent thousands of dcllars in
tailoring changes to the fish farm’s
land-based operation to district
specifications.

But adjacent neighbors continue
to complain 2bout what they say is
the illegal expansion of the farm.

On Nov. 13, 1988 the News car-
ried a story chronicling the pro-
posed quadrupling of the fish farm
from four to 16 fish-rearing pens.
The proposal raised the ire of ap-
proximately 85 area residents who
signed a petition opposing the ex-
pansion on the grounds that it
posed a threat to Indian Arm’s
water quality and the recreational
value and natural beauty of the
area.

Malamas subsequently withdrew
his company’s application volun-
tarily.

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