I bet you didn't even know that you owned oceanfront property on Howe Sound, but you do. The Nexen Lands belong to the District of Squamish, and the District of Squamish is you and me.
Now, I have to admit, I've been kind of negligent with my land. Sure, I've taken the dog down there, and I've gone to a couple of public events, but I haven't been paying too much attention to it until the past couple of weeks when people started telling me that the municipality was planning to give my land away.It happened this way: In late October 2004, the municipality completed the agreement to purchase the land from BC Rail for $3. Almost immediately, they created the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation (SODC), "an independent, for-profit body that represents the direct interests of its only shareholder - the District of Squamish," and appointed a volunteer board. The Board found itself aChief Executive Officer, Mike Chin.
SODC was then to go about the business of developing a master plan for the site while maintaining the principles of the charrette process that "the Lands are to be developed in a sustainable fashion with a 'triple bottom-line' (social, environmental, and economic sustainability) agenda."
To date, the master plan - which was scheduled to be finalized on Jan. 31, 2006 - is nowhere to be seen, and SODC has used up its $1.3-million line of credit with nothing to show for it but some consulting reports.
So the SODC pursued a joint venture partnership with a developer to pay for completion of the master plan and to develop the land. Last week, Qualex Landmark was identified as the winning proponent, and they will join SODC to create a company in which they will be the two shareholders with voting and control to be negotiated.
The speed with which the board pursued a joint venture partner, and the generally below-the-radar goings-on of the past few months, have raised questions with many people in town.
There's speculation, fueled by Mayor Sutherland's comments in last week's Chief, that the Squamish Sustainability Corporation and the SODC may merge, that the municipality is going to sell out to the developer to get some quick cash to pay for SODC's debt as well as cost overruns at the Adventure Centre.
A SODC board member denied this, however, saying that "Qualex Landmark provides for the payout of SODC's debts incurred to date. The proposal does not include any additional funds to be paid to SODC up front. There will be no funds allocated to cost overruns and operating costs of the Adventure Centre from SODC."
I don't know what is true, and I don't know if $1.3 million of consulting reports is a good deal; but I do know that I'm going to be paying a lot more attention to my land in the coming months, and I think you should too.
The Chamber of Commerce is hosting a question/information session at 7 p.m. on May 31 at the Sea to Sky Hotel. You should come find out what they're planning to do with your land.
