Former acting mayor Silas White surprised about trail on Charman Lands forest, says he can’t confirm he signed the covenant
The Town of Gibsons has signed a covenant with TCD Developments Ltd. of the Eagleview Heights development for a trail through the town-owned Charman Lands forest so the developer can fulfill a requirement to provide a public pathway between Eaglecrest Drive and Stewart Road.
By Newsdesk
It is unknown how many trees will be cut or how much land is involved.
“The final trail route is not yet finalized,” chief administrative officer Emanuel Machado said in an email to The Coast Clarion. “The objective will be to minimize the impact on the trees and other vegetation. Accessibility for all is an important element and so are drainage and maintenance considerations.”
The registered covenant contains the terms of the development permit, including conceptual landscape and trails plans as well,” Machado clarified. “Building these off-site trails are a requirement of the Town as a condition of development, similar to other requirements for sidewalk or road improvements, even if the improvements are located outside of the development area.”
The developer will pay for the construction of the trail, but the town is responsible for maintenance. “Similar to other off-site amenities, once completed, it will be the responsibility of the town to maintain the trails on the public lands,” said Machado.
The trail will begin on Eaglecrest Drive and tie into the landscaped area and pond on the lower portion of 464 Eaglecrest Drive.
The public was in the dark about plans for a trail on public land for a long time after the issue had briefly come up in 2017. On April 17, 2018, the Eagleview Heights amendment bylaw received second reading, and the staff report stated only that the developer had to give the public access to the property.
“The title for the property at 464 Eaglecrest Drive contains a placeholder right-of-way on the property which requests a pedestrian access linking Eaglecrest Drive with Stewart Road be built at time of development,” says the report. “Staff have requested that an accessible pedestrian and cycle access is provided, and to allow for public access in the greenspace. The developer has accepted these terms.”
Council endorsed the terms of the development agreement, stating that the developer had to “formalize through a right-of way, prior to building permit, a pedestrian and cycle access that connects Eaglecrest Drive with Stewart Road.”
Use of public land was not mentioned. There was no discussion of possible options for the right-of-way. .
The public hearing on May 23 at the Gibsons Legion about the zoning amendment for Eagleview Heights did not show plans for a trail: the details still needed to be worked out, several members of the audience were told.
On June 11, three days before the zoning amendment bylaw was adopted, chief corporate officer Selina Williams (no longer with the town) and acting mayor Silas White signed a covenant stating that “the owner will survey and register a blanket statutory right-of-way over the greenspace for the purpose of public access shown on plan attached as Schedule C.” The map showed a trail on public land. (map)
White was surprised when The Coast Clarion asked him about the trail and the covenant. “I don’t have the document in front of me, so I can’t confirm that I signed that,” he said. “The location of the trail was not highlighted at the time. I guess it was not a focus of possible concern. If it comes to light as an issue now, people can raise that concern before it is built.” A public hearing is not required for a trail on public land, he added.
When The Coast Clarion asked Machado about consultation with the public for this trail, he replied by email: “Public engagement related to the processing of development applications includes information meetings, committees, council and public hearing.” (sic)
The first time the public could have learned about the trail was on July 10, when the development permit was issued. Buried in the documents were two drawings that included a trail on public land. There was no explanation or mention of the month-old covenant.
During the development process, TCD Developments made repeated promises for a public trail through the property as an important community asset.
NOTE: The covenant shown in this article does not show actual signatures because it was electronically obtained from the Land Title Office. Acting corporate officer Wendy Lee confirmed to The Coast Clarion that the original with the signatures is kept at the town offices. “The signatures on the documents are original signatures by the mayor and corporate officer,” Machado said in an email.
Thanks for uncovering this missing piece — makes one wonder why the Town doesn’t just agree to accept monies from the developer for maintaining the present bike/walking trail which is an excellent and well-graded pathway. The proposed new trail will be too steep for most to use, duplicates what is already there, and will create more problems than it solves (runoff, tree and native plant removal, etc.). Whose stupid idea was this, anyway?
I walk the English trail almost every day there is at the first switchback a distance of at the most 20 m which is close to the property line of eagle ridge another trail is not needed also when Silas somehow signed the agreement was he not concussed from his bicycle accident which should therefore Annul any decisions he made for the town of Gibson‘s when will we as a community stop bending over backwards to please developers at our expense
This trail was brought up at a Council meeting on Dec. 18th, 2018 with a follow up meeting on December 21st. Both the Mayor and the CAO have agreed (in writing) to have consultation with the community before any final decision is made regarding the trail. This will occur several months (or more) from now. I am encouraged that the new Mayor and Council are not ignoring our concerns the way the former Council did. All the candidates promised consultation – we look forward to seeing that in action.
Incidentally, according to the covenant, the community has access through the development and onto the lower trails whether or not a new trail is constructed.
William Baker
Director
O’Shea/Oceanmount Community Associaton