Nine months after boarding up access to a dilapidated private marina, the District of West Vancouver has struck a deal with the owner allowing it to be reopened.
District staff blocked access to the West Vancouver Marina in Fisherman’s Cove in January after an inspection found the docks listing, loose electrical wires and rotted support beams.
In July, the municipality announced it would be breaking its lease with Kadin Equities, the company that owns the dock. Staff ordered Kadin Equities to have all the docks and boats removed by Sept. 30. If the deadline wasn’t met, the district was prepared to hire contractors to have the docks removed themselves.
But two days before the deadline the two sides struck a deal, giving Kadin Equities’ director Joe Carhoun six months to have the docks repaired and the entire facility brought up to code.
“It was definitely an 11th hour thing but we never stopped working on trying to reach a resolution,” said Donna Powers, district spokeswoman. “Keeping it safe was the most important thing but losing it wasn’t really anything the district was looking forward to so we are really, really pleased that we were able to come to this agreement. . . . It will resolve the existing safety hazards at the marina and it will allow the docks toe be reopened once the remediation work is complete.”
As part of the settlement, Carhoun has put up $40,000 to cover bylaw infractions, as well as costs the district has incurred in inspections, legal costs and having the facility boarded up. He’s also been required to hire an engineer to oversee the project, a manager to run the marina once it reopens and put up an additional $120,000 surety to be held by the district to ensure the work is completed to satisfaction of district staff.
The arrangement will also allow the Fisherman’s Cove Marine Fuels barge to stay in place for another 10 years.
The district contacted the owners of skiffs moored at the West Vancouver Marina warning them they’d have to find a new place to dock but most private marinas in the Lower Mainland currently have long wait lists. About 25 boats are still moored there. They will be allowed to remain but until the docks and gangway are repaired, the owners will only be able to access them from the water.
Carhoun’s lawyer Mark Sager said all the parties involved are pleased with the outcome.
“I can tell you on behalf of Joe and the gas operator and also myself a mariner, we are thrilled with the resolution and glad that this community issue has been put to bed,” he said.
The district leases the foreshore where the docks are from the Crown, and subleases it to Kadin Equities Ltd. in exchange for four per cent of the gross revenues- about $10,000 a year, half of which was remitted to the province.
The lease has now been extended to 2044.
