A Blight on the City Landscape.
April in Fernie. The snow is gone from town, and the weeds haven't sprouted yet. At this time of year the heaps of wood, metal, rubber and plastic, the decrepit vehicles and industrial equipment, the concrete rubble, rebar and construction waste in Fernie's downtown junkyard are clearly visible. But in a few weeks the weeds and scrub brush will be obscuring a lot of the discarded detritus.
This isn't the municipal transfer station, which is a model of waste management compared to this place. The dump in these photos sits between Fernie's historic downtown and the Ridgemont subdivision, within plain view of those million dollar penthouses at 901 Fernie (seen in the image above).
City Zoning Map
The land is adjacent to the railway tracks, between 4th street and 13th street. Half is zoned M1 light industrial, and half is P2 park and open space. The City's zoning bylaw suggests that the purpose of the P2 zone is to identify parks, trails and open spaces, owned by the City of Fernie, Province or Federal Government and intended for the use and enjoyment of the general public and to provide access to facilities and resources. No person shall use or permit the use of any portion of a parcel in the P2 zone for the wrecking and repair of vehicles.
The zoning bylaw says that the purpose of the M1 zone is to provide for a limited range of industrial uses primarily related to recycling and conservation that will have low pollution and minimal interference with residential and tourism uses. Neither the M1 or P2 zoning allows a garbage dump but that's clearly what this area is.
It seems that every year more and more crap is dumped in this downtown refuse heap. It's a wide open junkyard that's easily accessible to children. Nice.
This is park land?
Maybe it's time for a cleanup.
Have a look at the full photo album HERE
Comments