Just a recap on the City of Abbotsford's meeting held at the Straiton Community Hall October 24, 2012:

We would like to thank the Mayor, Council members who supported us, and the Management of the City of Abbotsford for recognizing the serious injustices with regards to peoples' property rights, and moving swiftly to rectify a major wrong in the Sumas Mountain Environmental Management Plan (SMEMP), and the Tree Protection bylaw. It takes strong leadership to revisit years of work and to admit that there were serious flaws, and to basically send it all back to the drawing board. It's a good step in the right direction, and very encouraging so see that our City listens to its citizens.

We would like to thank all the people who worked tirelessly to research and formulate a plan to approach the City of Abbotsford with what we feel was an outright infringement on our property rights. The folks who were willing to speak at the meetings were an integral part of the process, but so were all of you who supported the speakers and stood behind them with your overwhelming support. We thank you for your emails and many phone calls of encouragement to keep up the pressure on the City of Abbotsford, to point out the grievous assault on our Property Rights as landowners.

Here are a few highlights of the meeting:

There were about 100 residents in attendance. From the City was Mayor Banman; Council members Bill MacGregor, John Smith, and Patricia Ross; City Manager Frank Pizzuto and several other managers --- Jay Teichroeb, Jim Gordon, and Mark Taylor. The audience was civil and courteous and the questions thoughtful --- something the Mayor gratefully acknowledged.

1. Some changes are coming to the garbage collection program which could result in garbage pickup being reduced to once every two weeks, yet compost materials being picked up on a weekly basis. This caused some reaction from the audience, and so the Mayor indicated City Hall will be taking a second look at the proposed changes. He also indicated that City Hall may consider allowing the residents of Abbotsford to bring pickup loads of their yard waste to the compost facilities without charge (this would be an improvement over the proposed system of charging people a fee to dump their organic refuse at the facility). This could remove a lot of burning of tree trimmings and brush from our environment. Living in a rural area the small amount of yard waste that you would normally be allowed to leave at the roadside is not near enough for a small acreage. Kudos to Mayor Banman for applying wisdom to this issue.

2. The Tree Protection bylaw is being revamped and will not apply to the residents of the former Area H, nor will it apply to some of the original Abbotsford residents on the Mountain (such as the south side of Dawson Road), according to Mark Taylor. We will try to have the City supply us with a map to show you where your property fits into the new bylaw. We are also going to ask for a copy of the new draft bylaw for your perusal prior to it being presented to City Council for their approval. We are hopeful that perhaps we can assist the City by tweaking the new version and save all the problems with passing a bylaw that infringes on the Property Rights of the land owners. With the new attitude toward co-operation between the City and Landowners which the Mayor is trying to achieve, we are hopeful that the City will be happy with this offer of assistance from Sumas Mountain Property Owners. Once it becomes available we will post it on the SMRPOA website and let you know it is available for your perusal and feedback (which will be passed on to the City).

3. The Sumas Mountain Environmental Management Plan (SMEMP): It is our understanding that the "Plan" has been taken out of the proposed revamping of the OCP (Official Community Plan) for the old Area H, and hopefully the rest of the rural areas not in the residential or agricultural areas. When asked if the SMEMP is officially dead, Jay Teichroeb's response was "Yes" --- although we are still seeking some additional details. It seems that the "Plan" has been set aside and the City is instead focusing on its higher level Green Community Plan (GCC) --- which is not specifically directed at Sumas Mountain but rather the City as a whole. We asked if the GCC would include reference to the concept of connecting the two flanks of parklands on Sumas Mountain (the west flank park and the south-east flank park), and Jay Teichroeb indicated it would not, although a general statement regarding the City's desire to have connectivity of wildlife habitat areas may end up being in the document --- something none of us object to as long as it does not affect the property rights of private landowners. According to the City, they have abandoned the concept of establishing core areas, buffer areas, or wildlife corridors on peoples' private properties. Regarding the process of revising the OCP to include the former Area H, we look forward to offering our assistance to the City in helping with the drafting and revamping of the new OCP, which is slated to happen some time in 2013. Jay indicated that the City is looking at simply adopting the old FVRD OCP for the former Area H, with some fairly minor tweaks. We are hopeful that an equitable OCP can be developed which honors all of our property rights, without the stress and frustration which resulted from the SMEMP.

4. Regarding the Streamside Protection Bylaw, Jay indicated that the City is committed to using good sense going forward as to differentiating between actual streams (as the word is commonly used) and things like ditches and very minor water courses. This again was very welcome news to our ears.

Again thank you to the Mayor, City Council members who supported us, and the Management of the City of Abbotsford for hearing our request to exclude the Mountain from the Tree Protection bylaw and also to eliminate the SMEMP. We believe this is a very encouraging step in the right direction, and we remain hopeful. Still, we must continue to provide assistance to the folks at City Hall as they draft policy, in order that the property rights of landowners on Sumas Mountain be protected and promoted. This means standing up, and speaking out when necessary.

If you haven't already joined the Sumas Mountain Rural Property Owners Association, please consider doing so --- it costs nothing to join, and we need your support. Please stand with us.