Neighbours cry foul over infilling of coastal wetland in Lunenburg County

There's a strip of gravel at the northeast corner of Westhaver's Pond that looks like little more than a parking spot, but people who live nearby say it's cause for big concern.

The gravel patch is on a small plot of land a few kilometres down the road from the picturesque town of Mahone Bay, N.S., and was created by infilling rocks into the marshy vegetation that edges the pond. Across the street is Westhaver's Beach, and water from the pond and ocean flows back and forth through a culvert under the road.

Locals describe the area as an oasis because of the lush vegetation that provides refuge for dozens of species of wildlife. Some neighbours have friendly competitions over sightings of birds, some of them endangered, that flit across the bulrushes and fill the air with their songs.

Sarah Stevens's father bought land in the area decades ago, and she now lives in the home he built on the pond's western edge.

Stevens is part of a group of residents that says the infilling should not have been allowed. They want municipal rules to change so that similar projects won't happen in the future, at Westhaver's Pond or anywhere else.

"One of the biggest issues, and it is a point of principle, is that if people can just randomly, even though it is their private property, dump or infill into environmentally sensitive zones, then how can we help protect the environment?" she said.

In 2016, the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg designated Westhaver's Pond as environmentally sensitive, which prohibits development along its perimeter.

The bylaws are clear that structures can't be built in the environmentally sensitive zone, but infilling is a grey area. Ann Caverzan thinks that should be clarified, with infilling barred, too.

Caverzan has lived on the pond for 36 years, one door down from the infill.

She said the problem started in 2021. That's when, according to property records, the municipality listed the lot for sale to recover unpaid taxes.

"Had I known it was up for tax sale … I would have bought it," said Caverzan. "I think we all would have chipped in, or I would have bought it, to protect it and leave it as it was, untouched."

But Caverzan did not know about the tax sale. Municipal records show the current owner bid $3,330.

In 2022, the new owner had truckloads of gravel dumped on a portion of the property, which was briefly listed for sale with an asking price of $465,000. The listing said the land could be further built up through infilling "for building a home or cottage."

The listing was withdrawn, and Caverzan said over the following year, the gravel washed away into the pond.