This letter is from the owners of District Lots 85 and 86 on Galiano Island (DL 85 and DL 86). These are the two District Lots beyond the gate going to Dionisio Provincial Park. It is a lengthy story as it spans 30 years but please take the time to read it and respond.

This is our story/history on Galiano Island.

Over the years there has been so much misinformation as to why the road to Dionisio Provincial Park has been gated and closed to the public. Most people don’t really know the whole story.

We have heard and been told that we are rich off-islanders that have come to Galiano to buy land, subdivide it, sell the lots and leave with our pockets lined with profits. Nothing could be further from the truth.

My name is Flemming Larsen and I first came to Galiano Island in the early 1980’s.

I have always travelled and loved getting away from the city and enjoyed nature. I spent many years coming to Galiano, staying with friends Steve and Sue Whittlesey, who owned a home on the corner of McClure Road and Cameron Lane. Phil Kirby’s family (another partner) has been coming to Galiano since the 1930’s. We feel we are part of Galiano Island.

In 1992 MacMillan Bloedel put their properties on Galiano Island up for sale. At that time the zoning on their district lots was Forestry, but could be changed and divided into 20-acre Rural Residential lots under the bylaws then in effect.

Steve and I looked at District Lot 85 (147 acres) which had an asking price of $839,000.00. Neither of us had that kind of money, especially not myself. We decided to see if we could find other people interested in purchasing District Lot 85 with us as a group, with the idea that each would get a 20 acre waterfront lot to retire on. We managed to find five other couples (people we didn’t know) who had the same dream as us (to watch the sun set on the ocean on Galiano Island). Our group today includes a longshoreman, flooring salesman, office manager, sporting equipment buyer, construction manager, and mutual funds salesman, (All retired). None of these occupations has made any of us rich.

In the latter part of 1992, we purchased District Lot 85 and began the process of dividing it into seven 20 acre lots, one for each of us.

We knew very little about subdividing, politics or law. MacMillan Bloedel and the Islands Trust had been in court for years and had been back and forth on what the minimum lot size should be on the forest lots on Galiano. MacMillan Bloedel had won a court case making minimum lot size 20 acres at that time. The owner groups of District Lots 79, 85, and 86, each applied for a PLA, (preliminary lot approval), District Lots 79, 85, and 86 jointly applied for a PLA, (preliminary lot approval), from the Provincial Government, Ministry of Highways, (who was the approving office at that time), and we were given the right to proceed with our proposal.

We were well into our PLA process of drilling wells, doing perk tests, surveying and building a public paved road to the park at a cost of well over one and a half million dollars between the three district lots, (a million and a half dollars is a lot of money today, but can you imagine how much it was for us in 1993), when the Galiano Islands Trust appealed the court decision that MacMillan Bloedel had won.

We borrowed from relatives and mortgaged our homes on the mainland in order to meet the requirements of the Province. We finished all that was required to the satisfaction of the Provincial Government. The final paperwork was on the Approving Officer's desk waiting to be signed when the appeal decision between MacMillan Bloedel and the Islands Trust was rendered in favor of the Islands Trust, making the minimum lot sizes on Forest Lots 50 acres.

We still thought we were okay because Section 993 of the Land Titles Act states that you have one year to complete any subdivision in progress when there is a change in the zoning. The Approving Officer would not sign off on the subdivision despite Section 993 of the Land Titles Act.

We ended up having to take the Province to court, which cost us another $250,000.00 in legal bills, which again we borrowed from relatives and remortgaged the property to pay for. The decision came down from the judge that because the change in the lot size from 20 acres to 50 acres was the reversal of a legal ruling from over two years prior, that our one year of grace to finish our subdivision in progress started over two years earlier and not when the subdivision was completed. In other words, it was over before we were even given the right to proceed.

The local Galiano Trust then passed a bill not allowing any residential structures, (including trailers), to be on forest lots. The only thing that was allowed was a structure with a roof supported by posts with no walls. We were not even allowed to legally have an outhouse with walls. They also passed a bylaw saying if you wanted to subdivide a Forest Lot and build a home at 20 acre density, that you would have to give up ¾ of your land and 2/3 of your waterfront. This was later found to be not legal and was removed from the Official Community Plan.

Our zoning had not been changed from forestry to residential, but the Taxation Board decided to have us pay residential taxes anyway. We appealed this as we were not allowed to build residences or live on the property. The Taxation Board informed us that taxes are based on what they feel is the best use of the land and not what it is zoned, and our appeal was denied. We have been paying residential taxes ever since.

That is when we decided to block the road which we had built and paid for. Not just as a protest but also for liability reasons. BC Parks then took us to court to enforce the easement they have over our property. The easement states that employees and invited guests have the right to cross our property, and because they are a park, they argued that the public are their invited guests. The judge ruled in our favor saying if that was the case, there would be no need for an easement. This cost us another $150,000.00 in legal fees, which we again mortgaged our property to pay for.

We finally paid off the mortgage on the property last year after 25 years of payments.

In about the year 2007 BC Parks and the owners of District Lots 79, 85 and 86 entered into an agreement to purchase District Lot 87, creating a total land mass of 540 acres. The three District Lots contributed $68,000.00 towards the purchase of DL 87 with BC Parks making up the rest of the purchase price. The idea was to combine all four District Lots for a total of 540 acres, with seventeen 15 acre residential lots being created. The remaining 250 acres, (including land donated by the owners), would be rezoned to nature protection as BC Parks land connecting Bodega Ridge, the Ecological Reserve and Dionisio Provincial Park to make one continuous protected area.

The Galiano Islands Trust encouraged BC Parks to go ahead with the proposal and buy DL 87 with our assistance. But then after BC Parks and we had purchased DL 87 and submitted our rezoning application, our proposal was denied. The Galiano Trustees refused to allow density transfer from DL 87, although they are quite happy to rezone it to Nature Protection. DL 85 and DL 86 were stuck as they were landlocked behind DL 79 and had no public road access, which is a requirement for them to move ahead.

It stayed this way for over 20 years. Unfortunately, Steve Whittlesey passed away in 2008, never getting to realize his dream. Then in 2016 most of the owners of DL 79 finally gave in and agreed to give up ¾ of half of their District Lot, creating four Rural Residential lots. The balance of DL 79 was designated F3 Forestry with a sustainable forestry covenant placed on it. This rezoning was approved by the Islands Trust, and is the model for our proposals.

The original owners of DL 86 had finally had enough last year, and sold their property to the current owners. DL 85 and the new owners of DL 86 applied for similar subdivision proposals as DL 79, now that we had public road access.

We met with the Islands Trust planners and were informed by them that they did not have an issue with our proposals, but we would have to provide, topographical maps, hydrologist reports, archeologist and ecologist reports, along with a $4,600.00 rezoning application fee in order to move ahead. This was all done at a cost of over $100,000.00 for both lots. DL 85 contacted BC Parks to make arrangements for them to accept the land being donated. DL 85 was giving up a good portion of their waterfront as part of the donation.

The contact person for BC Parks informed us that they would prefer to have the land above the closed paved road to Dionisio Provincial Park rather than more waterfront, as they would like more land connecting the Ecological Reserve and DL 87 to the existing park. We had our drawings redone to accommodate them at our expense.

Our application went before the Galiano Islands Trustees at the July 4th community meeting. Trustees Jane Wolverton, Tahirih Rockafella and Dan Rogers unanimously rejected our proposals, declaring that we would not be allowed to include a 50 acre F3 lot in our plan, and all of us would be required to give up ¾ of our land and 2/3 of our waterfront. It seems that precedents only count when it suits their agenda.

We were told by the Islands Trust planners that they had been informed that BC Parks was sensitive about possible First Nations concerns. We have had several meetings with a representative from the local Penelakut First Nation who informed us that no one has ever contacted them concerning our proposal and that the first they heard of it was from us. Furthermore, the representative we spoke with did not have an issue with our proposal and had no objection to the road to Dionisio Park being opened. They would also like to be kept informed of any developments in the future by us.

Much to our surprise, we received a cheque in the mail for $2,300.00 from the Islands Trust. We contacted the Islands Trust and asked what it was for and were informed our application had been completely rejected and this was a refund for half of our rezoning application fee. We thought it was only our proposal that had been rejected, not our rezoning application. We were also told we would not be able to reapply with the same application for one year and when and if we did we would have to pay another $7800.00 per lot.

The new owners of DL 86, Wayne and Corinne, purchased it with the belief that there would be a fair and reasonable process using the existing Official Community Plan which was drafted and approved by the Galiano Community, for them to build three homes on their 95 acres.

To do this they applied for one 50-acre F3 lot and two 5-acre Rural Residential lots for Wayne’s father and Corinne’s mother, and giving up the balance as donated land to the Island. They sold everything they owned in Campbell River in order to purchase DL 86. Wayne’s 79-year-old father did the same. They are now living in trailers including Wayne’s father. Corinne’s mother is in the process of moving into a senior’s home and has also invested what she could in her son-in-law and daughter’s dream.

The bottom line is that our proposals which met all the requirements of the existing OCP would result in 9 more families on 7 Rural Residential lots and 2 families on two 50-acre F3 Forestry lots. This would result in 35 acres of Rural Residential land, 100 acres of covenant protected forest land and 108 acres of donated land. The road to Dionisio Provincial Park would finally be open and hopefully Galiano Island could finally start the healing process from the conflict that has split the Island for so many years.

All the owners of DL 85 are in their sixties and seventies and are retired and running out of time. You may hear that what you have just read is not true, but we assure you that it is. To try and squeeze 7 lots into 1/3 of our waterfront would result in us having fences and neighbors right next to us. I was just at a friend's home on Pender Island where I listened to his neighbor's dog bark all afternoon. Living in an urban setting, like in the city, would defeat everything we have worked and strived for over all these years. Please try to put yourselves in our shoes while reading our story. Imagine if this was you... We feel we are being punished for poor decisions and mistakes that were made 30 years ago by others. It seems to us it is always one step forward and two steps back. We are looking for common sense and fairness in whoever is elected in the upcoming election in October. Please vote for a change in leadership so that we can get some representation without personal agendas, and at the same time get the road to Dionisio Provincial Park open. Contact the trustee candidates, which you can do on our website, if you are in favor of our proposal and ask them to help us move ahead. Attached is a drawing of our proposal which was rejected. We are not asking for a lot considering what we have given and what we are still willing to give.

Owners of DL-85

Note by website admin: This letter has had some corrections made by the author. As this was done by the author ahead of any public feedback and ahead of significant viewership, I am keeping the site simple by not documenting it. Please feel free to use the contact page if you have any concerns