What was supposed to be a municipal reserve lot in the Peaks of Grassi subdivision is causing concern for Canmore’s locally elected officials and neighbouring residents.
The lot located on Wilson Way was thought to be municipal reserve as set out in the original approvals of the Peaks area in the mid to late ’90s. It wasn’t until 2007 that municipal officials realized it had been mistakenly registered with the land titles office with a residential land use zoning.
But because the land was owned by Three Sisters Mountain Village at the time, and before the mistake could be fixed, the company went into receivership and the land could not be transferred to the municipality as directed by council.
Michael Fark, general manager of municipal infrastructure, told council this week that once the development company came out of receivership, the new owners were no longer legally obliged to transfer the land.
“Essentially, what it meant is that the new owner (of Three Sisters) owned the lands free and clear of any caveats, restrictions or claims,” Fark said. “In January 2014, the new owner transferred title of the parcel to an individual for valuable considerations.”
It was concerns from neighbouring homeowners that brought the issue to the Town of Canmore’s attention in 2015 and a legal and historical review into zoning and ownership of the lot began.
Fark said administration acknowledges there were “errors and missed opportunities on the part of administration and we must take responsibility for that.”
The current owners of the lot at 990 Wilson Way submitted a development application permit at the end of March that meets all requirements of the district and has no variances. Fark said as a result, the development authority would be in a position to have to approve the permit.
He said the current owner of the land considers it fully developable and is not prepared to transfer the title for less than market value.
“Although the Town recognizes the historical context and that mistakes were made and we empathize with the adjacent landowners, at this point, administration is not coming forward with a recommendation on how to proceed,” Fark said.
The decision on what to do with the lot is up to council and it could either direct administration to begin negotiations with the landowner, or begin an expropriation process, which has legislated requirements.
Councillor Sean Krausert requested time in-camera to discuss potential negotiations with the landowner.
“I want this to come back to council and I have other questions that might affect discussions with the landowner,” he said.
Krausert said the land transfer for the lot, which is publicly available, showed it was purchased for $50,000 and that to him the amount is “intuitively seems low.” He made a motion for administration to bring the issue back next Tuesday (April 18) during council’s regular business meeting.
