Five trailers issued notice by Mining Museum as redevelopment begins
John French
Chief Staff Writer
Eviction notices went out to the first residents in Britannia Beach recently as a result of planned new development in the waterfront community.
Residents living in five trailers in the lower fan area adjacent to the B.C. Museum of Mining main parking lot were informed by the Britannia Historical Society (BHS), the owners of the land, that they need to vacate their rented land by next July.
The trailers are located on Main Street below Britannia's main residential area.
According to Kirstin Clausen, Museum Director at the B.C. Museum of Mining, the notices are part of the redevelopment that is taking place in Britannia. The redevelopment plans are going to impact the museum operations, said Clausen.
The BHS has determined that the land will be needed for the museum operations in the future.
"The access road for the community is going to be literally through the museum's parking lot," Clausen told The Chief. "We need to think of our needs as an operation and we need to be able to service our visitors.
"Regrettably, the area where the mobile homes are is the logical place to replace what we are losing from being impacted by the redevelopment," Clausen said.
Ray Kezebrink lives in one of the trailers and he plans to ght his eviction. He had a hearing with the Residential Tenancy Office (RTO) yesterday (July 29).
Kezebrink, 67, is a cancer victim on a fixed income and he says he is too old to take on a mortgage. He lived in Britannia on and off with his wife Joan Simpson. The pair made history in Britannia in the last 1980s by holding their wedding ceremony underground. Kezebrink was forced to move when a planned urgent surgery was cancelled the day before he was to go into the operating room.
"I packed up and went to Calgary," Kezebrink said. "I had the surgery and they detected cancer."He went through cancer treatment and his doctors told him to maintain a low stress lifestyle so he and his wife left Calgary.
"We decided to move to Britannia, a nice quiet community, and live stress-free," he said. "What kind of stress is this?"
The letter given to residents by BHS suggests that if they haven't done so already they should speak with the company redeveloping the community because Britannia Bay Properties Ltd. (BBPL) is extending a special offer to trailer park residents who want to continue living in Britannia.
"They are not our tenants but they will be afforded all the same rights," said Jerry Bordian of BBPL.
The developer has offered existing residents an opportunity to buy the homes they are currently renting. Bordian said those who decide to buy will be given 20 per cent off the assessed market value of their home. The properties range in value from $160,000 to $330,000, according to an appraisal of the property done by North Vancouver's Cunningham and Rivard.
However, residents are not being pressured to make a quick decision, as the closing deadline for properties will not be set until the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District gives final approval to the proposed subdivision of BBPL's land, which could take up to a year. According to Mary Ann Clark of BBPL, the residents who decide to sign contracts with BBPL are being asked to make a $100 deposit and the land owner will let purchasers back out of their deals any time between now and this spring.
Kezebrink met with Bordian but isn't interested in the deal being offered."It is beyond me, I can't do it," he said.
Kezebrink says some of his neighbours are facing a real challenge if they have to move. One of his neighbours is a war veteran who lives on his own at the age of 80 with no formal home care help. Kezebrink said his neighbour is befuddled and the neighbour doesn't really understand what is happening.
"The only thing that we know is that if we get evicted here, we cannot live in Vancouver and we will have to live in Kelowna and stay 50 km from a cancer clinic," Kezebrink said. "We might win the appeal and who knows, we start off from scratch again."
Clausen said the BHS has all the permits it needs to convert the trailer park land and she added the society is fully aware of its compensation obligations to the trailer park residents.
Outspoken resident Ralph Fulber, who is not facing eviction, is rallying against the move by the BHS.
"I want the whole issue of the access re-addressed," Fulber said.
"This notice to end tenancy is in fact based upon planned road construction by a third party which does not yet have the necessary permits and approvals in place," Fulber wrote in a letter to the arbitration branch of the RTO.
