As a longtime resident of Vancouver Island and as a former elected politician for a rural area of the Regional District of Comox Strathcona, I became familiar with a precious parcel of land on the east coast of Vancouver Island known as the Oyster Bay Lands. This property, running along the Old Island Highway at Oyster Bay represented the last large undeveloped tract of ocean-to-alpine corridor south of Campbell River.

As such it was the only place left between Courtenay and Campbell River where an astounding array of wildlife could still freely traverse from the mountains and forests of Strathcona Park all the way to the Strait of Georgia. Along with an assortment of rare or endangered plant species, the Oyster Bay Lands also hosted large numbers of amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Large predators such as wolves, cougar and bear were frequently seen on the land. The property was home to eagle nesting and perching trees. Great blue herons and a huge variety of other birds nested throughout the lands.

Recognizing the immense value of the property, a local community association called the Oyster Bay Group hired me to negotiate directly with the property’s new owner, Mike Riesterer, with a goal to protect as many of the high values of the property as possible. The community’s bargaining position was limited by existing zoning of the lands which allowed for a number of large 8 hectare(20 acre) lots strung in a line more or less along the highway. The larger portion of the land, back from the highway was zoned as “Upland Resource” allowing for only one lot per 40 hectares (100 acres).

Entering negotiations, I felt the community had a lot to offer Mike in exchange for benefits to him. The general drift of negotiations was to protect existing sensitive habitats and to seek a large intact wildlife corridor at one end of the property. In exchange, the community was willing to consider supporting higher density than existing zoning allowed on the remainder of the land. The wildlife corridor had been thoroughly researched and documented by the community in partnership with several wildlife biologists. All information known by the community was shared with Mike.

Sensitive areas of the land, including fish-bearing streams, wetlands and watercourses had been identified and community reps walked the land with Mike to share their information and put forward their requests for what needed to be protected in any development. The Regional District was regularly updated on the state of negotiations and the local area director had once again confirmed her support for spending park reserve funds, if required, to help purchase some of the property. Conversations with Mike were congenial, and I often reported back to the Oyster Bay Group that I believed a good deal could be made.

Although no final agreement was ever reached, it was still surprising and very disappointing to the community when actions on the Oyster Bay Lands began to demonstrate immense contradictions to the direction of the talks. The greatest disappointment for me was the logging of most of area that was being discussed as a wildlife corridor, without any prior notification to the community. Other significant concerns included the nature of roads being built on the lands, the crossing of fish-bearing streams, the extraction of gravel, the proximity of logging to some of the wetland areas (and to a splendid and ancient culturally modified tree).

On the heels of these activities. Mike came to the community at a public hearing to ask for zoning changes to allow for a much higher density on that portion of the property which we had hoped to retain as a wildlife corridor and sanctuary. I was amazed at this request and said so at the public hearing. I felt, and still feel, as though all the conversations I had with Mike about what the community wanted vanished into thin air. The negotiations certainly had no effect whatever on the way the land was developed.

With the exception of one speaker for the developer at the public hearing, the community unanimously rejected Mike’s request for higher density. After he finished logging the lands to his satisfaction, his company placed a “For Sale” sign out front and sold off the 20 acres parcels in a string along the highway.

Our community is left with a “rural sprawl” along the highway, the animals are left with no assured corridor, much of the lands have been logged, there is no additional public access or amenities, and Mike has moved on to your community.