A contentious rock wall on Keats Island will be moved following a ruling by the surveyor general, but it may return after a 90-day time frame in which the owners can submit more information.
"The actual line in the sand has not been drawn yet because it has to go through a 90-day process with the surveyor general's office to determine where the final outcome is going to be," said property owner Ken Pedersen. He noted he has been in a battle with the Islands Trust over the revetment since he and his wife Joan first discussed erecting it in 1999. They say that year a major storm caused erosion of their property, making the need evident.
The Pedersens' property ends on a popular public beach (Maple Beach) on Keats Island, which they believe made their plans a community concern from the beginning.
"That's a very popular beach and one that's very important for spawning of feedstock for higher levels of fish like salmon, etc.," said Islands Trust bylaw enforcement manager Miles Drew.
A natural boundary dispute ensued that has continued for many years and has included several surveys by various land surveyors who showed a range in their findings.
"There have been six surveys by BC Land Surveyors of our property since 1998. The difference in the determinations of our natural boundary have ranged up to 7.62 metres," Joan said. "This shows how complex this determination of our natural boundary has been."
There was also a community commissioned survey to try to get a final ruling on where the public beach ends and the Pedersens' private property begins.
"Finally, after 11 years and based on the fact that the 2009 community commissioned survey, in our minds, resolved the natural boundary dispute, we proceeded to install our shoreline revetment to protect our land at the natural boundary," Joan said.
The revetment was built in 2010 and was met with much anger from the community, demonstrated in a large protest at the site in April of that year.
The issue resulted in the Islands Trust starting legal action against the Pedersens. However, recently, a press release from the Trust stated an upcoming court date had been cancelled and an agreement had been reached between the two parties.
"The Pedersens have agreed to remove a portion of the wall as an interim measure to avoid going to court this week," Drew said in the press release June 11.
However, the Pedersens say that's not entirely true: "In the hope of resolving the matter faster, and at much less expense for both sides, we applied to the surveyor general of British Columbia, who has statutory authority, for a determination of the natural boundary," Joan said. "We told the Islands Trust that we would abide by any ruling that the surveyor general made."
She said that ruling came out on May 2, finding a portion of the wall was not completely on the Pedersens' property.
"The surveyor general has given us 90 days [from May 2] to provide new information and assures us that they will consider what we provide. If they think it appropriate, they will revise their decision," Joan said.
In the meantime, the Pedersens have agreed to pay a portion of the Islands Trust's litigation fees to date, about $30,000. The total amount spent by the Trust on the suit is not being made public.
"That's privileged because it's an ongoing matter," Drew said.
Islands Trust trustee Louise Stamford said she is pleased with the progress being made on the rock wall issue.
"This is definitely a step in the right direction. Our preference is always to seek voluntary compliance with our community bylaws. If we can't achieve that, we do feel a responsibility to uphold them and protect island shorelines," she said.
