Dear editor,
We are not certain if your readers are aware that the CVRD and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MOTI) have seemingly decided to give away beachfront property for any who choose to claim it. Free of charge!
Hurry! These beautiful packages won’t last long! Now is your opportunity if you haven’t already taken advantage! Choose a beach access in the Regional District (there are 124 from Oyster River to Mud Bay) and simply place barriers and obstructions (concrete walls, creosoted posts, boulders, logs, chains….anything apparently goes) to claim it as your own.
A private citizen, MOTI and CVRD have all simply ignored 20 years of requests from neighbours, to remove encroachments and obstructions from Harvard Road, a 66-foot wide road beach access. These authorities, who are the ones who MAKE the rules have illustrated that they either a) have no authority to actually enforce them, or b) will choose not to bother to enforce them if their requests are simply ignored. So, seriously, contact Ms. Stacy McRae at MOTI (stacy.mccrae@gov.bc.ca) or phone 250-334-6962, Mr. Doug DeMarzo at CVRD (ddemarzo@comoxvalleyrd.ca), or Area B Representative Mr. Rod Nichol at 250-334-6000 to let them know which beach access you have chosen so they can start ignoring your encroachment ahead of any complaints by those wishing to see public properties protected for public use.
Don’t delay! Beachfront property was selling for $5000 a front foot just a few years ago and as beach accesses disappear to those who wish to have them, it will only become more valuable!
Or if you believe that taking or giving away what is not yours is, in fact, theft, contact the above authorities and demand that they immediately do what they are paid to do by your taxes and ensure that public beach accesses are protected for public use. Don’t be fooled by their assurances that everything is being “looked into and addressed”. They have told this to the Denny Road area residents for twenty years. Not only has the encroachment of public land increased, but these named authorities have now decided that it will only be a three foot wide “foot path” access to the beach and have actually admonished visitors on their website to “stay on the footpath to respect private property owners”! It seems that they feel perhaps the public will not miss what they didn’t know they had.
Keep an eye out for spots on the local television channels and social media as we continue to share the free land give-away deals! (A Christmas gift for that hard-to-shop-for family member? Your own personal beachfront for the grandkids? Call today!)
Sincerely,
Barbara Mellin and numerous concerned and fed up residents of Denny Road, and Little River
Comox