July 6, 2009 - District of Mission

34i) The Guidelines for Legislated Landslide Assessments for Proposed ResidentialDevelopment in British Columbia, May 2008.At the time of the tragic landslide in North Vancouver there were no Provincially establishedguidelines for the content of geotechnical reports. As a result of this event, and others in thelower mainland, as well as the often flawed and inconsistent geotechnical reports that werebeing submitted province wide, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientistconsidered it necessary to establish guidelines, providing clear criteria for Engineers, theirclients and approving jurisdictions when considering development in areas subject to landslidehazards. Thus, in 2006 the Association approved "the Guidelines" and revised them in May2008 to include seismic stability.Content requirements for reportsThe Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists Guidelines requires that anylandslide assessment reports submitted to the Approving Jurisdiction, by the QualifiedProfessional meet "the Guidelines" and include the submission of Appendix D-LandslideAssessment Assurance Statement (from "the Guidelines"). The purpose of Appendix "D" is toensure the Engineer has prepared the report in accordance with "the Guidelines". Appendix"D" is not required for geotechnical reports that do not involve a landslide hazard component,such as Fraser River Flooding Hazard.Purpose of "the Guidelines"The purpose of "the Guidelines", (Appendix 5) is two fold:• Provide guidelines of professional practice for a Professional Engineer andProfessional Geoscientist who carry out a landslide analysis for a proposedresidential development.• Provide guidance to the professional as to how to relate the results of the analysis toa level of landslide safety for residential development when required by provinciallegislation (i.e. Community Charter, Local Government Act, and Land Title Act.)"The Guidelines" provide an industry standard for all landslide assessment reports in BritishColumbia. The intent is not to advise the Qualified Professional on how to a conduct a landslideassessment; only to outline the factors that must be considered for a comprehensive landslideassessment report. These guidelines basically serve as a "Terms of Reference" for the qualifiedprofessional.ii) Hazard Acceptability Thresholds for Development Approvals by LocalGovernmentThe Hazard Acceptability Thresholds, paper was prepared by Dr. Peter Cave, former Director ofPlanning at the Fraser-Cheam Regional District, (now Fraser Valley Regional District). Thepaper provides an overview of different types of geological hazards, and the damage that thesehazards can inflict on properties. The document establishes acceptable levels of safety fordevelopment, depending on the type of development. For example, a property with a probabilityof a landslide hazard of 1:200 may be allowed to rebuild or repair an aging structure; however,further subdivision would not be permitted (see Appendix 6, p. 15, Fig. 7 and p. 11, Fig. 2).The reasoning for the adoption of levels of safety for the District of Mission is that theEngineering Association of BC maintains that Qualified Professionals should not write landslideassessment reports stating development is "safe for the use intended" if the local governmentPAGE 4 OF 73