The District of Tofino and The Land Conservancy are facing off over the future of a two-acre waterfront site that may be put on the market.
Tofino issued a statement Wednesday blasting Victoria-based TLC for what it considers inappropriate plans for the site.
TLC responded by saying it wants to preserve the bulk of the land and that Tofino has its facts wrong.
It is the latest dust-up over a property owned by the conservancy. The non-profit organization is in creditor protection under a court-appointed monitor while it attempts to map a way out of debt. Selling some of its 50 properties is a key part of the strategy.
The Tofino property was left to TLC by Harold Monks, who died in 2008 at age 71. It had been his parents’ home. Monks’ sister Lois Warner, of Comox, said his will states that the property was to go to the conservancy “in the hope, without imposing any trust or legal obligation in this regard, that it will hold, develop and use the property for the benefit of the public consistent with the tenor and discussions that I have had with the director and staff of TLC.”
Warner said her brother, who was thinking of the community of Tofino, hoped the property would become a nautical museum. The land has a house, a cottage and a boathouse and has been used by TLC as a rental property.
Monks’ will also provided for his sister and her two children to be able to use the property for one month each year, between September and May.
Mayor Josie Osborne said Tofino wants the property, at the tip of Grice Point, to remain intact and is opposed to a TLC proposal to split it up. This is an important site because of the Monks’ history, the impressive views it offers, and the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations’ perspective, she said.
Tofino offered $250,000 for the site, assessed at $1.2 million. The offer included a commitment to put a conservation covenant on the property and to allow Monks’ family to use it. TLC said no.
Osborne said she fears TLC will sell the property on the open market to raise more than $1 million. “We consider it to be entirely and utterly inappropriate for the property to be listed and sold at market price so that TLC can recoup cash from a property that was donated outright and in good faith. This is total disregard of Harold Monks’ wishes and completely ignores the community and cultural values attached to this property.”
John Shields, TLC director of operations, said the organization is proposing a covenant on the site, allowing for two small strata-title parcels. Tofino would be given a major chunk of the property for $1 to become a public park, as well as the buildings and pathways around the property.
The view lots would be sold by TLC for $500,000 each. This would protect the site and create revenue to help pay creditors, Shields said. “We were not asking for subdivision. We wanted to preserve the bulk of the land.”
When Tofino returned with its $250,000 offer, it was informed by the monitor’s lawyer that the judge would not approve that amount, Shields said. “The court would laugh us out.” Any property transfer must be approved by the Supreme Court of B.C.
Without a negotiated agreement, the entire property would be on the market, Shields said.
