Tsunami warning signs erected in the Sooke area are causing a wave of protest by home and business owners who say the signs are lowering property values and discouraging tourism.
"They're so silly. They do nothing but take away from the beauty of our area," said Debbie Stolth, who owns the Kemp Lake Store and Forbidden Pleasures Cafe.
It's located three kilometres west of Sooke and smack dab in a tsunami-hazard zone.
She has lived in the area all of her 40-odd years and has never worried about earthquake-induced waves.
Ten days ago she started a petition that has almost 70 signatures from people opposed to the blue-and-white highway signs.
Signatories include upset bed-and-breakfast operators -- the biggest attractions they offer being ocean views and the sounds of crashing waves, said Ms. Stolth, whose business happens to be for sale.
Sooke real-estate agents have lost sales when clients who were eyeing waterfront property decided to hightail it out of town after spotting the signs, said Marlene Arden, a saleswoman with Royal LePage Coast Capital.
Sooke Mayor Janet Evans has also heard from homeowners who worry their $1-million waterfront property values will sink because they live in a tsunami zone.
"I have some concerns about the wording. It's a scare tactic," said Ms. Evans.
She believes the signs are directed at tourists, not local residents.
Ms. Evans grew up in the former logging town of Port Renfrew, 70 kilometres west, which is also in the tsunami zone. She says she recalls only one incident as a child when her mother packed up the car and they sat on the vehicle's roof after word got out that a big wave might hit the Vancouver Island village.
In an e-mail sent last Wednesday to council, Sooke resident Julie Clark wrote: "Not only do these signs make residents uncomfortable and negatively impact real-estate values, they serve no purpose.
"Are you suggesting we all move to higher ground? We live in a province where the chances of earthquakes, mudslides and forest fires are infinitely greater, and yet I do not see warnings for these events in my neighbourhood."
In hindsight, Ms. Evans said, there should have been public consultation before the signs were erected.
The issue was to be discussed last night at a Sooke Council meeting and if there was a strong surge of public opposition, the 16 signs would come down, she said.
Sixty signs were also posted west of Sooke in the unincorporated Otter Point-Port Renfrew region known as the Juan de Fuca area.
The signs, which indicate when one is entering or leaving a tsunami-hazard zone, or which point to an evacuation route, were supplied by B.C.'s Provincial Emergency Program.
After the devastating 2004 Boxing Day tsunamis that hit Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, PEP launched a tsunami-preparedness project in early 2005 realizing that B.C.'s coastal settlements could face a similar risk.
With $1-million in federal and provincial funding, 21 high-risk B.C. communities received $20,000, while 43 lower-risk communities, such as Sooke, collected $10,000 for the signs.
Many coastal communities along Vancouver Island, the Mainland and the Queen Charlotte Islands have installed the signs, said Jim Price, PEP's Vancouver Island senior manager.
Towns such as Port Alberni, Tofino and Ucluelet have embraced them. Port Renfrew wants more.
But Sooke, with 11,000 people, and Otter Point, population 1,500, are resisting the most, Mr. Price said from Victoria.
At least two signs in the area have been knocked down and several more are tilted after being hit.
Tsunami signs have existed in California, Oregon, Washington State and Alaska for several years with little opposition, according to PEP.
In 1964, Port Alberni was hit by two tsunami waves, which reached the Vancouver Island town up to five hours after a huge earthquake shook Alaska.
More than 375 dwellings were damaged in Port Alberni, but there was no loss of life.