Proposed West Beach RV and condo project heading to foreclosure…
Developer faces legal action
Salmon Arm Observer
By Barb Brouwer
Published: September 14, 2010 6:00 PM
The developer of a controversial North Shuswap resort development is facing at least one lien and a lawsuit over alleged unpaid bills.
West Beach developer Mike Rink has received strong opposition to his project since he first presented his proposal for a 218 residential unit/commercial facility in 2008.
More than 500 people attended a meeting to protest a development of that size near the mouth of the Adams River and the world-renowned sockeye salmon run.
Based, in part, on the strength of public opposition, Columbia Shuswap Regional District directors turned down Rink’s proposal.
Rink meanwhile, continued to develop the property by installing new electrical, water and sewage systems, as well as landscaping and road improvements.
But problems with the project have continued. Kamloops lawyer David McMillan alleges several contractors were never paid, and he says he will launch a lawsuit within the next week to 10 days.
‘I act for five of the contractors who were retained by the developer in the construction of the resort ‘ electrical, power line, sand and gravel, general building supplier, and a land surveying firm,’ he says. ‘In addition to that, a large plumbing supply company filed a lien with another lawyer and there are at least two others not represented by lawyers.’
Collectively, McMillan alleges the lien claims amount to about $750,000.
Rink confirmed only one lawsuit related to a mechanic’s lien to the Observer and says he is working with the lien holder to pay it out of sale proceeds.
‘I’ve got 18 contracts written now. I had them written last year but lost them,’ he says, noting that his plans to sell 99-year leases on 165 West Beach RV lots were held up by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District.
‘We’ve been writing contracts every day now, which is why we can transfer sales.’
Because an electrical building on the north side of the property is located in a floodplain, Rink was required to sign a covenant with the Land Registry that says if there’s a flood the building won’t be damaged and people won’t be hurt, says CSRD senior planner Scott Beeching.
The covenant was signed a few weeks ago and Beeching says Rink is indeed able to go ahead with the sale of his leases. But while Rink believes he can move ahead with the rest of his plans for West Beach, Beeching says CSRD will not yet grant a development permit for a second electrical building on the south side of the property.
‘There are two issues: it’s in a riparian development permit area and the Foreshore and Aquatic development Area,’ says Beeching. ‘They have to meet requirements, that’s what we’re waiting for.’
But Rink argues that what the CSRD considers to be a natural watercourse is a man-made pond that should not be subject to either of the OCP requirements.
‘Two years ago they issued a permit to build for our first condo building and that building was right on the edge of the pond, and they didn’t take the position that that building was in RAR,’ Rink says. ‘Now we’re trying to get a permit for a tiny little utility building that’s several hundred feet from the lake and 85 feet from what they’re now calling a watercourse.’
Michael Crowe, habitat management section head BC Southern Interior, says there has been no change in DFO’s development review.
‘We need to understand what the project description is before we determine what kind of environmental impact assessments will be required,’ he says.
And part of that could hinge on the pond which MOE officials describe as a modified remnant river channel where recent fish sampling found juvenile chinook, something that indicates a seasonal connection to Shuswap Lake.
Keith Weir, a senior land officer with Integrated Land Management Bureau says his office’s work with Rink ended when the developer withdrew plans for a marina ‘ that is until some old West Beach docks were spotted at the mouth of the Adams River in July.
Rink says the docks were being used as wave protection for the new docks and broke away in a storm a couple of weeks ago.
‘I didn’t even know they were gone,’ he says, noting he had hired a firm to remove them Monday.
Meanwhile, Shuswap Environmental Action Society president and Lee Creek resident Jim Cooperman calls the resort an ‘ill-conceived development.’
‘There is now a better chance for adding the property to Roderick Haig-Brown (Park), which is what the public is insisting,’ he says, adding the property is not suited for development because of its rich ecological values.