Western rattle snake native to Kamloops/via WildsafeBC
Plans for a major housing project in North Kamloops may face some delays due to wildlife concerns.
While Kamloops council has given the green-light for the 180 unit, three-building project on Ord Road to go to a rezoning hearing, issues are being raised about the impact the project could have specifically on rattle snakes and big horn sheep.
“There are a lot of legitimate concerns, and it makes it hard for us to know whether its worth continuing even moving to this phase if we don’t properly understand how this is going to work. There’s some big information around there, but it still sounds very open-ended,” argued Councillor Katie Neustaeter, who suggests the initial studies done on the proposed site don’t go far enough.
“We have TRU just up the hill. We have experts that are there. I would like to see fulsome engagement. I see this being problematic in a lot of ways,” said Neustaeter.
Planning Manager Rod Martin, who detailed the proposal to council, concedes the initial study was just that.
“It’s a little bit of a catch-22 when we’re doing development applications on how much we’re going to require the applicants to spend on highly detailed studies before they even know they’re allowed to the land use,” said Martin. “The way it would typically go is if they get the zoning in place, then more detailed studies would happen with the development permit application.”
Martin does say the early impact study did find some potential conflict.
“There’s a potential rattle snake den location on the property that will require ongoing monitoring to determine whether snakes actually use it,” noted Martin. “Depending on the findings, [it] may require a relocation of the snakes.”
Big Horned Sheep in Sun Rivers/via we-love-kamloops.com
The location, just south of the Lac Dubois Grasslands, is also home to big horned sheep, raising concerns about increased vehicle collisions with them if more traffic were to flow into the area.
However, Martin suggests the project might actually reduce those incidents.
“The wildlife biologist noted that the removal of winter forage will prompt the sheep to utilize the habitat found to the west on the nature conservancy site,” said Martin in his report. “This development may act as a beneficial barrier between the sheep and Ord Road, which has frequent traffic volumes at relatively higher speeds.”
A date for the public hearing to into the potential rezoning of the land has not been set.
