There is something going on in our town (oh! I mean, just outside our town) that is causing people to get together and voice their opposition to a proposed gravel pit/aggregate pit, or as some people call it, a quarry.
Yup, I am talking about that eye sore of an ALR (Agricultural Land Reserve) parcel of land on Highway #9, just a short walk from the border of the Village of Harrison Hot Springs – a little village that is annually one of the top 10 travel destinations in BC. Tourists and locals often stop in Agassiz to fill up with gas, buy some hot dogs fixin’s and marshmallows and maybe a bottle of BC wine from one of the Agassiz outlets.
But much of this economic spinoff for Agassiz could soon come to a sudden halt!
First a bit of history: Many folks in Harrison and adjacent communities drive in and out on Highway 9 on a regular basis.
About a year ago many of us noted some light construction on a road down the south border of the ALR property, and many of us assumed that this road could possibly be for a green house, a small hobby farm, etc. All of these ideas were completely within the rules/regulations of the ALR and guided by the Agricultural Land Commission.
But these hopes were soon dashed when we saw the construction of a very large garage, and a very large house with another very large garage. Again, you could argue that the construction sort of fits, however at the same time as the buildings were going up so were piles of dirt, piles of loose aggregate, piles of lumber and yup, a pile of junk.
Fast forward to this past weekend when what appears to be out of nowhere and hidden behind burns (long and high piles of dirt, debris, and gravel) and building construction — started to appear more piles. Or we should say more burns of dirt and debris?
My point in writing this article is to try and get some of the folks in Agassiz to take a look around and ask only two questions – who gave this guy (TC Merritt Valley Farms) permission to do such damage to a piece of our diminishing ALR and why is the District of Kent council sitting on their hands and letting this tragedy just happen?
According to the mayor of the District, –“the District cannot indicate any sort of a stance on the project”and “the District has to let senior levels of governments make their decision in matters that they have control over…the District has to be open minded and objective.”
– Ken Smith, Harrison Hot Springs
Mr. Mayor of Kent, I am objecting to your passing the buck - in very strong terms – what is local government all about?
In short, it is about local issues, local folks, local services and yup! – local politics. To all of these points you have received, from many of us, a failing grade on this very visible and highly toxic project.
Maybe you should take a stance and stand with your counterpart in the Village of Harrison, and support your neighboring community folks, ‘cause you know, maybe one day you might be looking to your neighbours for help, and we might just say “sorry, we cannot take a stance on your issue”.
We look at the facts and see that this project on the ALR and backdrop hillside is just going to be catastrophic for all; the people who live in the shadow of the hillside with several species of wildlife, the habitat for our nature neighbors, the fish in the stream that flows through the property, and, the incredible view of the natural surroundings as you drive through your community and into Harrison Hot Springs.
Oh, by the way, did you hear that a group of enthusiastic cyclists and hikers from Harrison and Agassiz have been meeting to plan a trail (through the dynamited hillside) joining our two communities so we have a way to visit with each other? That is local government (yup cooperation).