Residents living in 1940s era summer cottages rented from Metro Vancouver in Belcarra Regional Park have won a small victory in their bid to stay.
On Thursday, the Environment and Parks committee deferred a decision to consider demolishing the seven cabins maintained by the Belcarra South Preservation Society after hearing from residents.
Central area manager Frieda Schade said staff will take another look at the matter before the committee next meets.
"They (the committee) want a little more information," she acknowledged, but said the cabins are in poor shape and need almost $800,000 in repairs, money Metro Vancouver doesn't have and couldn't make back in 30 years with residents' rental payments.
The residents argue they have been living and maintaining the rustic cottages for years and want to find away to stay in the buildings.
"It's one of the jewels in the whole park system and we are grateful to live within it," said the society's Jo Ledingham. Three generations of her family have lived there, she told the committee, "I love the park. I love the land I am on. I am very connected to it."
In an interview with the Tri-City News, Ledingham takes says the cost estimate for repairs is over-blown and based on bringing the buildings up to heritage standard and would be much cheaper of the residents did the work themselves.
The group looks after the area on the south end of the park, hidden by trees, and patrols against late-night beach parties. It has installed a water system, regularly tested by Fraser Health, and made many other improvements, Ledingham argues.
She's worried the deferral will delay any decision and action the group might take, bringing them closer to the Aug. 31 date of eviction without a resolution.
But Schade said a condition assessment performed on the building in 2012 found that all of the major systems, water, sewer and plumbing as well as the buildings themselves need upgrading. The cabins were built in the 1940s and were never intended for year round use and could present a liability to Metro Vancouver now the extent of efficiencies is known.
"Now that we've had them inspected and we know what we know, we need to have those cabins brought up to a decent standard," Schade said.
But with the cost being prohibitive, she said, demolition is recommended and in their place a modest public trail along the waterfront would be installed. She said the residents have been offered rental accommodation in other Metro Vancouver housing.
Ledingham said she doesn't want to move and neither do the other residents, who have set up a website, and believes knocking down the buildings will be the end of an era.
"I really think we need to start holding on to somethings from the past," she said, noting that the small cottages from Crescent Beach to the Sunshine Coast have largely disappeared, replaced by million dollar homes.
Meanwhile, there are no plans to tear down another house with heritage value also located in the park. Schade said Bole House, associated with lawyer and early Belcarra pioneer John Percy Hampton Bole, needs repairs too, But Metro Vancouver hopes to find money to preserve it and is looking for suggestions from Port Moody and Belcarra about future uses.
- with files from Jeff Nagel
