Bates Entrance to Seal Bay Park Open
The Bates parking area is once again open to visitors. Improvements during November and December at this popular entrance to the beach and loop trails have increased the previous 35 parking stalls to 71 with five designated accessible stalls. In addition to the extra parking visitors will find a new outhouse and two bike loops for lockups. New garbage and recycling bins will be installed in January.
The previous parking area was quite inadequate and unsafe given the amount of use it received. It filled to capacity and beyond regularly. With a blind corner nearby and a steady flow of traffic on Bates Road the open layout was dangerous for vehicles to enter and exit as well as park users wanting to cross Bates. The new design has a single entry/exit point for vehicles and provides park users a single crossing area across Bates at the most northernly end of the existing parking lot. View the plan for the improvements here or better yet visit Seal Bay Park soon and check out the new layout.
Local residents shared safety concerns and experiences during public consultations in 2018 when the CVRD prepared the Seal Bay Management Plan (2019). The plan identifies the re-development of the Bates Road parking area as a priority action item. This area is identified in the management plan as a facility zone. This zone allows for the development of various visitor services amenities. Within this zone the environment may be modified but is to retain a naturalized appearance.
Design and Approvals
CVRD parks staff have worked with a local design team that included a surveyor, engineer, biologist and arborist to review options for increasing the available parking while being sensitive to the park environment. This work included an environmental report by a biologist and arborist and approvals from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI). A copy of the environmental report is available here.
The design strives to minimize environmental impacts primarily by expanding the existing parking area rather than clearing and developing a new site. A total of 53 second growth trees are to be removed to create the additional parking. The majority of the trees being removed are Douglas fir and Grand fir trees with a few maples, alders, cottonwoods and two cedars. Nineteen of these trees are either dead or in fair condition. Another 10 trees outside the construction area need to be topped as portions of them are dying and could pose a danger to the public. The Province owns the trees in Seal Bay Park and will be selling them. The provincial Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Developmentwood will sell the timber. Sword ferns will be salvaged and used elsewhere in the park. A few of the trees will be used onsite for borders.
The CVRD will plant two trees for every tree cut down.
An archaeology assessment for the project site found no cultural materials or culturally modified trees. The archeologist concluded the project location has low potential for archaeological findings given the past logging activity, standing water and distance from the shore and identified. He had no concerns regarding impacts to potential artifacts for this project.
For More Information
Community Services Branch
Email | Tel: 250-334-6000