A local creek activist is questioning the effectiveness of the City of North Vancouver's environmental protection bylaws after he found construction debris blocking a fish ladder.
During the week of Dec. 3, Darwin Construction cut trees down at West Third Street and Fell Avenue to make way for a new bridge that will be built over Mosquito Creek and to service a new residential complex scheduled for construction.
Since 2002, volunteer Robin Blues has been going out on Sunday mornings to ensure the Mosquito Creek fish ladder is clear. On Dec. 4, Blues discovered branches and sawdust clogging up the fish ladder making it impossible for fish to swim upstream to spawn.
"It's never been like that before," Blues said. "The ladder was absolutely plugged with branches."
Karen Milne, president of the Mosquito Creek Stewardship Society, said the company responsible for blocking the ladder clearly violated the bylaw.
"They fined someone in the past for cutting trees down on the exact same property," Milne said. "So much for the effectiveness of streamside protection bylaws."
The bylaw states that no one is allowed to obstruct or impede any stream within the City of North Vancouver.
Last July, the city agreed to a land deal with Darwin Properties that would see it move the city's public works yard from its current site at 720 West Second St. to 61 Bewicke Ave. In exchange Darwin will be allowed to build two five-storey and two six-storey buildings on the West Second site. Part of the agreement permitted the construction of a bridge over the creek.
According to city communication manager Connie Rabold, there haven't been any formal complaints regarding the incident at Mosquito Creek.
Milne says the city promised to keep the land and surrounding area as a natural green space to compensate for the loss of the parkland lot at 238 Fell Ave.
"This is typical that they didn't do much about it," Milne said. "Some of what's happening here is ridiculous."
While Milne has exchanged emails with city environmental manager Mike Hunter regarding the debris in the fish ladder, Oliver Webbe, president of Darwin Construction, said his company has not received any complaints.
"We actually have an environmental consultant that specifically deals with the creek issues. They visited the site after we did the clearing, with a City of North Vancouver representative and wrote a report confirming that everything was completed in accordance with environmental practices." Webbe said. "They issued a report confirming that Mosquito Creek, including the fish ladder were clear of debris."
According to Webbe, Darwin Construction has photos of the creek and fish ladder after the tree cutting occurred but he said he couldn't release them due to legal reasons.
"We are doing everything that we should be doing on the property. We also inspect the creek three times a week and take photos of it as well. We want to make sure that there aren't any issues with that creek or the salmon habitat."
