Neck Point Park Expansion

Nanaimo Taxpayers Buy
$3,175,000.00 Waterfront

The City of Nanaimo has learned that yesterday an offer by the City to purchase the private property located at 4050 Morningside Drive, adjacent to Neck Point Park has been accepted. The 3.108 acre property is situated between Finn and Indian Beaches of Neck Point Park and is a natural link to this already popular waterfront park.

The cost of the property to the City will be $3,175,000.00. Funding for the purchase came from a combination of park and property acquisition reserves and development cost charge (DCCs) reserves. The 2005 Parks, Recreation and Culture Master Plan states as the first priority for park acquisition: “Seek opportunities to acquire key waterfront properties and access to ocean shoreline as public open space.”

The new portion of the park will be incorporated into the existing 33 acre Neck Point Park which was acquired in 1996. The new parkland will adhere to the current park Master Plan. The vision as stated in the 1999 Master Plan is for the park to be:

‘a quiet waterfront park which offers opportunities to enjoy and appreciate the unique natural attributes of the site through restoring and maintaining the natural habitat values for present and future generations.’

A public park planning process will start this summer to gather input on how this addition to Neck Point Park will meet the overall park vision and needs of park users.

“We are very excited to be able to announce this new park acquisition today,” states Mayor Ruttan. “We have a parks and trail system that is the envy of many communities, and today we’ve been able to enhance that system. This is a waterfront park property that will be accessible to all of our residents to enjoy and take pride in.”

The City will receive full ownership of the property in the near future and the public will be notified when this occurs. Until this transition occurs the property will be inaccessible to the public.

Editor's Note: I am sure this is a prime piece of real estate, whether anyone else is interested in developing it is unknown. If so, you would think it would have been done by now. This is an example of why our taxes will increase by over 30% in the next five years though, city staff and council will NEVER stop spending money, even money they don't have.