British Columbia

West Vancouver council approves sale of public beach access to private buyer

Council in West Vancouver, B.C., voted Monday to move ahead with the sale of a beachfront property that includes a century-old public path leading to a popular beach.

Buyer says they will allow access until new trail is built, after thousands sign petition against sale

An aerial view of a path leading down a slope beside a three-storey home.
The public access trail leading to Altamont Beach in West Vancouver, B.C., pictured on July 30. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Council in West Vancouver, B.C., voted Monday to move ahead with the sale of a beachfront property that includes a century-old public path leading to a popular beach.

The path to Altamont Beach at the bottom of 30th Street, adjacent to a property at 3000 Park Lane, is now set to become private property after the district voted to package it with a municipally owned lot in order to incentivize its sale for over $6.5 million.

But as part of an amended motion that was passed on Monday, the buyer of the property says it will work with the district to add a new path to the east of the current one, and will allow the public to use the current trail until construction on a house is completed.

A report to council notes that the concerns voiced by many residents over the loss of the path influenced the buyer's decision, which was supported by West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager and a majority of council.

A man dressed casually in jeans and a checked shirt leans over a railing along a path near the ocean.
Local resident Christopher Molineux on the access trail to Altamont Beach. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Sager said the public will have significant input into the design of the new path, which will be completed within two years, and that the property buyer would construct most of the new trail.

A council meeting Monday was packed with residents — including former mayor Michael Smith — who came out in opposition to the council's plans.

Over 2,000 people signed an online petition against the sale of the path, which first came to light in July.

"It's most definitely a cherished path ... people would be very, very sad to see the trees clear cut and removed in favour of private property development," local resident Sydney Sharpe told CBC News before the meeting.

WATCH | West Vancouver sells off public beach access:

West Vancouver sells public beach access to private buyer

3 months ago
Duration 2:21
Residents in West Vancouver are crying foul after the city voted to turn a public beach access path into private property. The neighbourhood path is next to a city-owned property, and council voted to include it in a sale to a prospective buyer. As Jon Hernandez reports, West Vancouver's mayor says the city is trying to raise money for other projects.

Site repossessed

Sager previously told CBC News that the site's former owner illegally built their home beyond the property line onto a road end. West Vancouver's previous council took the owner to court and repossessed the land, then put it up for sale.

"It's been on the market for about a year, and we got very low offers, and then somebody came in and said, if you will sell us the rest of the unopened road allowance, we'll pay it," Sager previously said.

Realtor Holly Calderwood has listed the property on her website as "sold (pending)" for just under $7 million.

A map pointing to two trials leading to a beach. One of them, to the west, says 'existing trail' and the other, to the east, says 'proposed new trail'.
The buyer of the property has promised to help fund a new public trail to the east of the current one. (District of West Vancouver)

Council first voted in favour of closing the public beach access at a meeting on July 22, which prompted outrage from locals.

Some councillors who voted in favour of the amended motion said they only did so due to the promise of the new trail.

"Over the last three months, this council has heard the community and we have tried to come up with a compromise that is going to be the best for the community moving forward," said Coun. Scott Snider.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Akshay Kulkarni

Journalist

Akshay Kulkarni is a journalist who has worked at CBC British Columbia since 2021. Based in Vancouver, he has covered breaking news, and written features about the pandemic and toxic drug crisis. He is most interested in data-driven stories. You can email him at akshay.kulkarni@cbc.ca.

With files from Jon Hernandez