The history of a Town-owned property on Shaw Road in Gibsons has become the focus for opponents of the Vancouver Coastal Health-Trellis agreement for a new long-term care facility on the Sunshine Coast.
After delays in getting zoning and other approvals for a location in Sechelt, the for-profit company Trellis Seniors Services made a deal with Gibsons to buy the lot for $2.24 million.
The reason some opponents have seized on the history of the land is the restrictions placed on its future use by the previous owner, Thor Christenson.
Christenson and his wife Mildred bought 10 acres (four hectares) on Shaw Road in 1947 and named it Tuckaway Farm. It was shortly after Mildred’s death in February 1993 that Thor decided to sell the property to the Town of Gibsons for $195,000 (said to have been less than half the market value at the time) under certain conditions.
The entire property remained in the Town’s hands until 2001, when the 4.77-acre (two-hectare) north portion was sold to the Ministry of Health for $400,000 as a potential site for a long-term care facility. The money went into the Town’s capital reserve fund.
In late 2003, an agreement was struck between Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) and the non-profit Good Samaritan Society to build and operate Christenson Village, and the land was sold to the Society for $432,000.
One of Thor and Mildred Christenson’s nephews, Bill Merilees, is quoted in a 1993 newspaper report on the original sale as saying that Thor wanted to ensure the property “would not be flipped or developed for profit.”
Merilees spoke to Coast Reporter from his home in Nanaimo this week, and said he still thinks those words captured his uncle’s intent, and he questions whether having a for-profit operation on the property is in keeping with the spirit of those wishes.
“Thor, to me, was very clear,” he said. “We talked about this numerous times… There’s a very, very strong feeling among the nieces and nephews that the property was there for uses as specified by the community and on a not-for-profit basis. We all agree on that. There’s no ifs ands or buts.”
The current covenant on the land dates from 2005, when the executor of the Christenson estate agreed to replace the older document registered against the title with a so-called “Section 219 Covenant,” which is specific to local governments in B.C. The wording of the restrictive clause says the property may only be used as “public park, public playground, community centre, public school, police station, library, community health facilities, not-for profit housing for seniors with a minimum of 10 per cent of the land to be dedicated for public park, or public road.”
Merilees said as far as he and the other family members he’s spoken to are concerned, the interpretation is clear.
“It doesn’t comply with the not-for-profit side of it. The not-for-profit [caveat] covers all the things that are in [the covenant] as far as I’m concerned, and I think I can say as far as the family is concerned… We’d be very disappointed if this sale went through.”
Merilees added, however, that ultimately it’s up to community members to decide if they feel the sale is in keeping with Thor Christenson’s original intent and if they’re willing to support council’s decision.
According to the latest update on the project from VCH, the health authority continues to “undertake a comprehensive due diligence process to see what impact [a potential change in location] will have on the agreement with Trellis.”
