West Vancouver sells beach access path to private owner

A public beach access path in West Vancouver will soon become private property.

Christopher Molineaux has been using the path at the bottom of 30th Street to get to the waterfront since he moved to the neighborhood 13 years ago.

He is furious that the mayor and city council decided to sell it to sweeten the deal for an adjacent plot of land also owned by the municipality.

“It feels like the announcement is, ‘Public facilities in West Vancouver are up for sale,’ and the money coming in is more important than the needs of the community,” Molineaux told CTV News on Wednesday.

Mark Sager, the county’s mayor, explained that the adjacent parcel had been for sale for more than a year, but had received only one offer, which he described as “very low.”

“We didn’t get any offers that were even remotely acceptable because the plot was too narrow,” the agent told us.

A potential buyer recently offered $6.5 million, but only if a path to the beach was included.

Molineaux disagrees with the mayor and council’s decision to accept the offer rather than keep the access path in public ownership.

“What happened is the realistic market value of the property was not as high as the mayor and council wanted,” he said. “It was not an unsold parcel. It was just one that was marketable for a little over $5 million.”

The mayor plans to use the proceeds from the sale to buy the last waterfront home that is preventing the Ambleside Seawall from going forward, something West Vancouver City Council has wanted for 40 years.

Sager also noted that there is another public beach access trail a little further along.

“(Molineaux) will now have to walk a little further east to get to the water,” the mayor said.

“And I apologize to him. This is just a community compromise. If the city had all the money in the world, it would be great to keep it, but if we’re going to acquire that last building, we need the money.”

Molineaux doesn’t want excuses. He wants the local community to take action to stop the sale of the trail.

“The actual ordinance needs to be passed, so there’s time to talk to council members, to talk to the mayor,” he said. “It’s definitely a loss for the community, and it casts an ugly light on what the future might hold.”

With files from Shannon Paterson of CTV News Vancouver