Town willing to abandon park foreshore to developer

FOI request shows town “has surrendered” lease to the foreshore of Winegarden Park for the “New Marina at the George”

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a statement from mayor Bill Beamish. See below

(By News Desk)

The Town of Gibsons is willing to abandon its lease over the foreshore of Winegarden Park to The George Gibsons Development Ltd of developer Klaus Fuerniss, who wants to use the area for a commercial marina and restaurant. 

If the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, which owns the property, does not approve the lease amendment, the town’s lease will remain the same, the town says in a letter to the ministry.

The Coast Clarion obtained the letter through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The town sent the letter to the ministry on May 10, 2018, during the mayorship of Wayne Rowe.

The provincial government issued the lease in 2001 on condition that the land be used for park and recreation purposes.

In the Winegarden Park Masterplan, adopted on March 21, 2017, the town stated that views had to be retained.

The proposed “New Marina at the George” would have 2,700 linear feet of moorage for large vessels and would be operated by the George Gibsons Marina Resort and Residences. The plan includes a pier to connect the existing waterfront trail, and a restaurant on the pier. The only land access to the berths would be through the restaurant.

The total area for the proposed development is 10,719 square metres. It would consist of the water lot in front of Winegarden Park (lease number 237789, currently held by the town), the water lot currently held by the George Gibsons Development Ltd (lease number 238162, formerly Hyak Marine Services Ltd.), and private moorage permission 243097, currently held by Klaus Fuerniss.

In its letter, the town says it is “willing to abandon” the lease. The developer’s application to the Ministry for the lease uses different language: “The Town of Gibsons has surrendered in writing its leasehold interest of water lot lease 237789 to Klaus Fuerniss Enterprises Inc. (parent company of the George Gibsons Development Ltd.) for the proposed expanded marina.“

The application to the ministry was made in July 2018 and is still under review.  The reason for the lengthy decision-making process is unknown. The development agreement for the George project states that no building permits can be issued until the lease for the area in front of Winegarden Park is in place. 

Does the developer have to pay the town to abandon the lease? Chief administrative officer Emanuel Machado, who signed the letter, told The Coast Clarion that the matter was considered in camera (behind closed doors) and that he was not at liberty to discuss it. 

On December 19, mayor Bill Beamish sent The Coast Clarion the following statement: “I understand that if and when the status of the lease changes, the town will negotiate with the developer for ongoing compensation. 
However  I am not at liberty to discuss details of what is proposed at this time. It will all be reported when finalized.”

Mayor Beamish had been asked to comment before the story was published.

Gibsons resident Harriet Hunter is wondering why the public was not informed of the plans. “This has all been done behind closed doors. But if the ministry approves the application, the foreshore is no longer public, plus we lose our view,” she says. “Instead, we get to look at big boats of the one-percenters. And they will be looking down on us from the restaurant. What developer gets something like this?”

Several Gibsons residents have expressed concern to the ministry about safety of the proposed float plan for the “New Marina at the George.” The channel between the existing marina and the new one would be too narrow for boats to maneuver safely, they argue. A narrower channel between the proposed marina and the Gibsons Harbour Authority would endanger kayakers, they say.

Gibsons resident John Roper also pointed to several vessel fires in past years; in one instance, a burning boat had to be towed out to open water to prevent the fire from spreading to other vessels. 

“For this reason of public safety and liability, existing channel widths and clearances from existing facilities should not be reduced,” he wrote to the ministry. 

The marina work would require dredging and installation of a new pier, gangway, and floats. Sixteen thousand cubic metres of sediment would need to be dredged over an area of 7,157 square metres of intertidal/subtidal foreshore; in addition, the marina basin would need to be dredged to improve water depth and navigation. 

A number of citizens have written letters to the ministry about environmental concerns related to the dredging.

Land-title documents for the marina show that the town amended the marina lease earlier this year, leading to a future loss of berths for general boating. After lengthy legal procedures, Shoal Bay Properties, located next to the future George site, got rights to almost all mooring along the float leading to A-dock, plus an additional 10 berths on C-dock.

Under the new terms, anybody who owns a future residential dwelling on the Shoal Bay Properties will be entitled to rent any one of the Shoal Bay slips from the marina at the going rate for other berths at the marina. If a slip is occupied, the marina has to make it available within six months, relocating other boaters if necessary. Moorage contracts for Shoal Bay property owners run for 12 months and can be renewed, and transferred between owners.  

The net result is that fewer slips will be available for the general boating public. It is unknown if the berths in the proposed “New Marina at the George” would be available to the general boating public, or reserved for owners of the residences and guests at the hotel.