I thought I’d celebrate a fine, sunny, warm day with a walk following my regular route which takes me downhill, through town, along John’s Walk and back uphill again.
When I get to John’s Walk, I usually take a rest on a natural outcrop (promontory?) of rocks and dip my feet in the water. Gradually, though, over the last few years, this outcrop has been filled in and built up so much so that today, I found myself looking at a garish, very large, levelled piece of land jutting much farther out onto the river than in the past — so much so as to interrupt the natural flow of water. There was an address number posted (identical to that of one of the new houses built along the walk), a levelled boat launch, a miniature light house, a golf tee off (a small, plasticized poster advertised, “Tee off on the Point”), and a Canadian flag.
What once was a small, natural outcrop of rock has become a man-made, filled-in eyesore!
Now, my understanding is that you cannot fool around with the water or with public access areas.
You have to check this out: it has definitely been filled in, built up, and added onto, all of which have interrupted, intercepted, and impeded the water of the West Arm of Kootenay Lake.
Just take a stroll along John’s Walk and have a look. Who did this? Well, there is an address nailed into the rock of this promontory which, as I said, matches that of a house on Sproat Road. Doesn’t make sense because, as we all know, you can’t build on the lake without city approval; this begs the question: When and why did the city approve this? Does this fit in with our Community Plan? Do people who have the money to buy and build on the waterfront receive more leeway with respect to building structures on the water? How can this happen without the city’s knowledge? Is anyone else concerned about this? Who has laid claim to this?
H. Jenkins
Nelson