Green Waste Facility and Agricultural Land Use Plan

Surrounding its municipal hall, the District of North Saanich owns several hectares of land which were acquired over a number of years. These lands are comprised of an operations yard, areas of material storage, and an area fill deposition, as well as a yard waste composting facility and hayfields. The property was also home to a few hectares of fallow land which was formerly a gravel pit. The District identified a need for a management plan for the entire property which considered all existing land uses, options for compliance with local and provincial regulations, and integration of site resources where possible.
SYLVIS undertook the production of this integrated land management plan. Based on discussions with the District and a thorough site assessment which included soil sampling, SYLVIS was able to understand the existing site uses and soil quality in order to develop the plan for integrated management of the property. Recommendations were made for compliance of the green waste composting facility and a facility operations and maintenance plan was provided. Recommendations for reclamation of the fallow land and management of the site as agricultural land were also made, along with an operations and maintenance plan for agricultural management.
Based on SYLVIS’s experience working with organic residuals in agricultural and reclamation contexts, comprehensive land use, operations, and maintenance plans were developed for the District. The work enabled the District of North Saanich to understand the subsequent steps and procurement processes which will be required to fully implement recommendations and operate a regulations-compliant, integrated composting and agricultural site.