City Clarifies Status Of 6780 Dickinson Road

6780 Dickinson Road – Proposed Community Plan Amendment

An amendment to the Official Community Plan to re-designate 6780 Dickinson Road from “Parks and Open Space” to “Neighbourhood” was recently removed by City Staff from Council’s Public Hearing agenda for the meeting held Thursday, June 07, 2012, due to confusion respecting intent of the re-designation and effect it would have on the use of the property. This News Release is meant to clarify the status of the property.

Ownership

The property is currently owned by School District No. 68. The property was transferred to School District No. 68 in 1997 by the City of Nanaimo as part of the purchase of Neck Point Park. As part of the agreement to purchase Neck Point Park, the Province contributed $8.5 million on the condition that the City transfers 6780 Dickinson Road to School District No. 68 for future use as a school. $800,000 was provided to the City for the transfer of the property to the School District.

Crown Grant

A crown grant is a legal instrument used by the Province to convey an interest in land once disposition occurs. Crown grants can be amended or cancelled at any time by the Province. In 1997, School District No. 68 received confirmation from the Province that the condition of the crown grant had been removed. The original intent of the crown grant was for the land to be used for “park or public recreation and enjoyment” purposes. The title of the subject property still notes existence of a crown grant; however, a letter from the then Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks, Don A. Fast, confirms that the Province, by order, removed the restrictions of use contained in the crown grant. Staff has informed the School District of the notation remaining on title and advised School District No. 68 and the Province that they may wish to consider seeking its discharge should they wish to pursue private sale or other development of the property.

Existing Use

The land is treed and has remained undeveloped up until 2011, when the City entered into a five-year agreement with School District No. 68 to create a dog off-leash area. This was always seen as a temporary use until School District No. 68 determined its needs for the use of the property and the agreement can be cancelled by either partner at any time.

Existing Zoning

Although the provincial and federal governments are exempt from municipal regulations when the use of the land is for public use, it is important to clarify the current municipal regulations impacting the property. The current zoning is R1 (Single Dwelling Residential Zone), which permits the development of a single-family subdivision. The development rights of a property are enshrined in zoning and not fettered by the Official Community Plan (OCP) designation. Single family developments which conform to zoning do not require Council approval or have any public input component associated with their authorization.

Official Community Plan Designation

The Official Community Plan (OCP) provides the long-term vision of how our community will develop. The subject property was designated “Parks and Open Space” in 1996 when owned by the City. The “Park” designation was not amended in 1997 when the lands transferred to the School District, as the original intent was to have the lands develop as a school and continue to be used as intended by the crown grant. With the removal, the designation should have been amended as part of the recently adopted OCP from “Parks and Open Space” to “Neighbour-hood”. Parks designations are to be used with land that is City-owned and determined by Council to be for park purposes only.

In reviewing its properties, the School Board brought to staff’s attention the inconsistency of the designation applied to the subject property. There is no application to rezone the property at this time and School District No. 68 has not indicated its wishes with regards to future use of the land.