New fences, restricted access to the public, a local contractor, a $7.5 million mortgage, and again: bills are not paid
(By News Desk)
Pre-construction activity is about to begin at Block 7 of Gospel Rock. Within the next few weeks, local contractor Maycon Construction Management Ltd. will install new fencing and make a start with earthworks and civil work, development partner Touchstone at Gospel Rock said in a press release.
All development permits are in place, Town of Gibsons planning assistant Kirsten Rawkins told The Coast Clarion. Building permits are not issued at this stage.
The servicing agreement between the developer and the town for the civil and road works will be executed next week, said Marci Beacham Fuller, the town’s development co-ordinator. The amount of the agreement is not public.
Maycon has joined the Touchstone team, the press release proudly announced.
Interestingly, Maycon put a $261,684.93 lien on title for non-payment for the land clearing on Block 7 on January 13, 2020. It was lifted on October 3, 2020.
The building of roads and walkways as well as the construction of water and sewer connections will start in September, Touchstone says. Most of the activity will be within Block 7, with some off-site work to connect to the Town of Gibsons infrastructure. This off-site work will be carried out once full approval from the Town of Gibsons is received.
No construction or pre-construction work has been carried out at the site since 2021. The lull may have been due to the pandemic, or lack of money. In February 2021, The Coast Clarion reported about financial troubles and contractors not being paid:
But money is available again. On November 29 last year, Ji Yongqiang, owner of Block 7 and president of development firm Greenlane Homes, obtained a $7.5 million mortgage from Cenyard Pacific Developments Inc., and investor Li Qun Dong from West Vancouver. Cenyard has a 1/4 undivided interest in the property while Li Qun Dong’s undivided interest is 3/4.
Cenyard is a reputable investor. The Coast Clarion has been unable to find information about Li Qun Dong.
At the same time, subcontractors still fail to get paid. On February 15 this year, Atlas Steel Detailing Ltd. in Vancouver registered a $67,620 lien against title for non-payment of work done in 2021. The firm made shop drawings for lightweight steel framing for steel stud walls and floor joists for the Touchstone village centre on Block 7.
“We are a small firm, we had to cancel other projects to do this,” the firm’s owner Fariba Saedi told The Coast Clarion. “Several people worked on it for six months, and of course I paid them. But I never got paid.”
Saedi was doing business with JKCE Construction Group Ltd. and James Wang. The Coast Clarion reported earlier how Wang did not pay subcontractor Bob Dhanda for his excavation work at the Gospel Rock site:
Atlas Steel Detailing provided the developer’s representative with all the drawings that were made, something Saedi now regrets. “They kept saying ‘thank you’ and asked us to do more work, but of course at some point we stopped. Now they don’t answer the phone, or answer emails. It’s tough.”
Saedi said Wang had provided her with an “engineer of record” to sign off on the drawings. The Coast Clarion discovered that this individual’s engineering license was revoked in 1992 over gross incompetence and signing off on a project which had not been completed.
When The Coast Clarion contacted him, he acknowledged he had lost his license but denied he ever acted as an engineer of record. “We have not yet reviewed it [the Gospel Rock village drawings] completely because the project is on hold,” he said. “But why do you want to talk about my credentials? I am not the engineer of record.”
Even the government recently put a lien on the title of Block 7. As of July 11, 2023, it states the developer owes $4,128.85 for non-payment of logging tax.
Since 2021, when work at the site stopped and nature started to regenerate, Gibsonites started to hike again on Gospel Rock, as they had done for years. This will now come to an end.
In the coming weeks, the [Touchstone-Maycon] team will work on the fencing along Chaster Road, the Touchstone press release says. “The process of updating the fencing includes several steps, including clearing debris and obstacles from the fence line, removing existing worn-out fencing, and finally, installing [the] new fencing.”
“We are not anticipating installing fencing in new locations at this time,” Rachael Zimmerman, director of community relations Touchstone at Gospel Rock, told The Coast Clarion.
“Once the fencing is updated, we kindly request that folks who have been accessing the site will find alternate places to walk until the public trails reopen in the future,” Touchstone said in its release.
A recent hike on the property showed a number of survey stakes tossed aside. An accurate survey is important as unclear boundaries caused trees on the property to be cut without a permit in the past.
All surveys required to this stage have been completed, Zimmerman said in response to questions about the surveying work. “Future surveys will be done as required as part of the ongoing construction process.”
Part of the approximately 47-acre area is protected to conserve ecological values. In March 2022, the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association, the Land Conservancy of BC, Greenlane Homes and the Town of Gibsons registered a conservation covenant protecting 16.6 acres of Block 7.
The Gospel Rock development consists of 150 condos, 150 townhouses, 60 single-family lots and a boutique hotel.
After the first 250 units are built, the developer will have to build an extension to Shaw Road to improve access to the development. Until then, Chaster will be the main access road.
The Gospel Rock Neighbourhood Plan allows for a total of 1,100 housing units.
A note from The Coast Clarion team: We are unpaid volunteers. To remain independent, we do not carry advertising. Up until now, donations from the past paid for the upkeep of the site, legal advice and investigative costs. For example, the above article cost more than $100 in title searches alone. The amount of money left in our war chest is dwindling. If you value independent journalism, please consider donating. Any amount, however small, helps. We understand times are hard for a lot of people. We will not constantly badger you for money. But it would be a shame if we have to cease publication because the money ran out. Thank you so much for your readership.
Based on the reporting for the Stonehurst development, I was astounded to learn that the Town of Gibsons does not vet the developers putting forth proposals. How do these project keep slogging on with the town’s blessing when their experience is unknown and they are not paying their bills. Could inexperience of the developer account for the geotechnical deficiencies that arose at the Gospel Rock site? I think it’s imperative that the town get iron-clad credentials from developers before they start handing out permits that let them run amok on our local landscapes and leave an unsightly disturbance, devoid of habitat value, for years before the project is started, let alone completed in a proficient manner.
WHERE ON EARTH IS THE WATER COMING FROM FOR THIS HUGE DEVELOPMENT?
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IMPROVING THE COMPLETELY INADEQUATE ROAD ACCESS TO THE SITE?
The water for Gospel Rock is coming from the new Oceanmount pump station that the Gibsons ratepayers paid $2m for.
Is there any way that this can be halted? The town of Gibsons is not thinking of the water, traffic, needed medical people, forest protection, future arid conditions (of which we have had ample warning this summer). Also, we are very dependent upon volunteers for our protection. Will this be adequate?
Joy Allbright
Inexperience of the developer? On the contrary, they are very experienced at this sort of thing. It seems the more convoluted it gets, the better they like it. There is a book by Sam Cooper called Willful Blindness.Thrilling and disturbing and I recommend everyone to read it.
Good reporting. How on earth does this stuff get approval? Such rocky starts bode ill for the future of this whole thing. Thanks Clarion for the work you do to expose this stuff. And to my fellow Gibsonites, I have just donated $25 to help out with the reporting bills. Can we have at least three more do the same? Please help fund this news source. It is needed.
The site was once almost religious in its quiet beauty, natural setting and awesome views.
Just like the rest of the planet, we are letting it all go with a whimper.
Time for as many people as possible to let Silas know (politely) that we do not want this development on our precious Gospel Rock. Town can stop this if enough people support them… Please write, email, or phone TOG, or Silas.
It is nothing but FOLLY to do further destruction to what was once our crown jewe GOSPEL ROCK. Nothing further will be done, let us envision that! Such an obscene proposal deserves nothing but REJECTION. We do not need another “village,” we already have one.