Better late than never is one way of viewing Coquitlam's proposed regulations to prevent erosion during high rainfall events on new development projects in the city.
When a terrific deluge sent buckets of silt down Burke Mountain last fall, city officials were surprised that such a thing could happen given the city's strict regulations on erosion control. At the time, a member of the Hyde Creek Watershed Society expressed horror as mud and water overflowed ditches and spilled onto creeks.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," Shane Peachman said at the time, as the city and the contractor rushed to fix the damage over that October weekend.
The project was shut down until the mess could be cleaned up and the city was forced to take stock of its erosion control measures. It turns out, though, that the bylaw wasn't nearly strict enough and fines were so piddling as to not be any deterrent at all.
Coquitlam hired a consultant that was critical of the city for having outdated regulations when it has the highest risk for erosion in Metro Vancouver. Now, Coquitlam is proposing an entirely new bylaw that while adding some cost to new projects will go some way to educating developers about the problems and their responsibilities in controlling run off.
Chastened by the consultant's damning report, the city is doubling its fines to $500 from $250 (possibly not nearly high enough), and requiring developers to show a degree of knowledge about the subject before they're allowed to cut down trees and dig up dirt.
This is a good idea because, as Burke Mountain becomes increasingly the focus of development with new neighbourhoods coming on stream, there will be no excuse for not knowing how to prevent mud from pouring off development sites, down streets and into storm drains.
While larger developers already know the rules, and indeed have personnel employed to deal with erosion, smaller developers new to the area will no longer have ignorance as an excuse.
While administering these new rules will cost a bit more money, it's the price that has to be paid for building on a mountain.
