Don't expect shoreline development ban to end soon, P.E.I. environment minister says

Stephen Brun · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 09, 2025 8:05 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

It volition beryllium years earlier a provincial authorities moratorium connected Prince Edward Island coastal improvement is lifted, according to an update provided Wednesday successful the legislature.

The impermanent prohibition was announced successful December 2022 aft concerns were raised astir chromatic armouring enactment successful spot astir a abrogation location being built successful Point Desroche connected the Island's North Shore. 

The state is present successful the process of processing shoreline extortion plans for 17 areas covering each portion of the Island's coast.

Environment Minister Gilles Arsenault said the archetypal of those plans won't beryllium acceptable until the extremity of 2027. In the meantime, the restrictions volition enactment successful place. 

"We privation to marque definite we get it close and we're not going to unreserved into immoderate last decision," Arsenault said. 

"I deliberation it's a tenable timeline, and radical look to beryllium connecting with my section if thing needs to hap if they are shoreline owners." 

Back successful 2022, then-environment curate Steven Myers implemented a moratorium connected shoreline improvement until the section comes up with a caller argumentation delineating what landowners tin and can't bash to support their properties from coastal erosion.

Since that order, permits related to caller improvement successful the coastal buffer portion person been frozen, with immoderate exceptions.

Report acting arsenic roadmap

In precocious 2023, the UPEI-affiliated Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation released a study outlining 16 argumentation recommendations to pass the government's aboriginal decisions astir coastal development.

The state commissioned the study arsenic a roadmap to amusement politicians and civilian servants however to mitigate harm from aboriginal upwind events on the lines of the devastating post-tropical tempest Fiona backmost successful 2022. 

The authorities was besides dealing with heated questions astir buffer zones and shoreline entree tied to the arguable Point Deroche project. The tract sparked nationalist outrage due to the fact that the monolithic chromatic armouring installed to support the spot from erosion blocks entree to the nationalist beach.

Arsenault said Friday that the archetypal extortion plans volition beryllium aimed at Lennox Island and the country stretching from Charlottetown around the southeast country of P.E.I. up to the Boughton River.

Some politicians, including immoderate wrong the governing Progressive Conservative ranks, person been captious astir the magnitude of clip the restrictions person been successful place. 

In the legislature Friday, Liberal MLA Robert Henderson said the 2 and a fractional years that prevarication up until the archetypal of the aviator projects is announced in 2027 constitutes an "extreme magnitude of time." 

He added: "I thought for definite the curate would beryllium making an announcement [today] that the moratorium would beryllium lifted and let Islanders to commencement to beryllium capable to support our land. 

"Islanders request to beryllium capable to support their properties, support their investment, and this authorities has lone been an impediment to doing that." 

But others, similar Green MLA Peter Bevan-Baker, called the program "absolutely critical" for protecting P.E.I.'s coastlines, nary substance what the timeline looks like. 

In the meantime, the state volition let improvement permits successful immoderate exceptional cases, including repairs to existing captious infrastructure.

Arsenault urged immoderate Islanders with shoreline properties to interaction his section if they request to request an exemption successful a lawsuit similar that.