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Mega-Yacht Marina, Not Yet Approved, Taking Payments of $10,000

Controversial Victoria Harbour project has yet to be green lighted by feds, province.

By Andrew MacLeod, 5 Feb 2010, TheTyee.ca

Proposed Victoria marina

Artist's rendering of proposed marina, as shown on developer's web page.

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Proponents of a mega-yacht marina for Victoria's inner harbour are accepting $10,000 deposits from people who would like to dock their boats there, despite the fact the project is still waiting for federal and provincial approvals and there's no guarantee it will ever be built.

"With the marina targeted to open in 2011, we are now accepting Priority Reservations for 52 yacht slips," said a recent Victoria International Marina newsletter. "If a Reservation holder chooses not to buy a slip for any reason, the reservation deposit is completely refundable."

The Tyee reached the marina's general manager, Lachlan MacLean, at the Seattle Boat Show, where he's promoting the proposed project this week.

The marina has been taking reservations since just before Christmas, he said. For $10,000, people get on a list to have first crack at the slips if and when the project is approved and the marina is built, he said. There is no commitment to buy and people can get their money back at any time, he added. "And, of course, if the approvals don't go through, the deposits are refundable."

There's no doubt the project is needed, MacLean said. "For boats 50 feet and up, there's simply nowhere to put them," he said.

Many of the marinas on the Pacific coast of North America were built 20 years ago, or more, and the size of boats people buy has since grown, he said. "The moorage capacity for the boats people are buying hasn't kept up," he said. "There's a certain pent up demand for moorage for boats over a certain size."

Awaiting approvals

It seems odd the proponents would be taking people's reservations and money for a project that may or may not be built, said Diane Carr, a member of Save Victoria Harbour, one of the groups opposed to the marina proposal.

"I don't know that they have anything to sell," Carr said. "They have no guarantees from the government. I hope they're putting the money in a trust account." Aside from the governmental approvals that are needed, there's a riparian rights issue to settle, she said.

MacLean confirmed the proponents are still waiting for final decisions from Transport Canada and the B.C. government, adding they are confident those approvals will come. "We've put a lot of years of research and study into the permits and we're reasonably confident it's all going to happen."

It's not final, he said, but "we're confident it's a good project and it's going to happen."

While MacLean acknowledges the uncertain state of the project, the home page on the marina's website makes it sound like the facility will open next year. "In 2011, the yachting world will welcome the Victoria International Marina," it says. "Early reservation and slip selection will guarantee your place and access to the spectacular cruising waterways of BC and the Pacific Northwest."

When people make their reservations, the marina managers make it clear the marina may not open, MacLean said. "If you see on the marina reservation page, there's a caveat there." On that page, at the end of four more paragraphs promoting the marina, it notes, "The marina project is subject to government approvals."

'Creates real skepticism': Savoie

A spokesperson for the Integrated Land Management Bureau in B.C. said the province is waiting for federal approvals before the minister responsible, Pat Bell, decides on the application to use 2.63 hectares of Crown water lot.

And the member for parliament for Victoria, New Democrat Denise Savoie, said she spoke with officials in Transport Canada Minister John Baird's office today and confirmed no approvals had yet been granted.

Asked what she thinks of the proponents taking reservations and deposits, Savoie said, "I found it perplexing to say the least."

Last week Savoie asked the federal commissioner of lobbyists to investigate the role political insiders may be playing in the approval process. Media reports, starting with The Tyee in October, have made it clear that there have been both provincial and federal lobbying efforts on behalf of the marina while the official process has continued.

"Given all the issues that have been raised about the insider influence that's been brought to bear on this application, it really makes people wonder and question the integrity of the process such as its been," said Savoie.

"It creates real skepticism around the process when someone can be out selling slips before the approval is given. It makes it look like there's a wink-wink tacit approval that's been given."

MacLean said taking reservations was part of "assuring ourselves there's a market out there" and has nothing to do with the approval process. "We've had solid interest," he said. "There are people who are genuinely interested in the slips we're offering."

He declined to say how many deposits had been accepted, other than to say it is more than none. "That's commercial stuff we don't talk about."

He compared the deposits to the payments people might make to buy a condominium in a building that has not yet been built and said the company won't spend the money without completing the project. "They're in a trust account with our lawyer. They're very safe." [Tyee]

Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee's Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. You can reach him here.

11 Comments:

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  • Fiat lux

    2 years ago

    We can be rest assured that

    We can be rest assured that the marina will be approved by both Reform Party governments at the federal and provincial levels.

    Especially if it involves "wealth creating foreign investors".

    I wonder when they'll put the Parliament and Legislative buildings up for sale and then rent them back from foreign investors as an "efficiency measure"

    Ed Deak.

  • SharingIsGood

    2 years ago

    "Parliament and Legislative buildings"

    NOw don't be giving them any ideas, Ed, because they will sell them if they think of it. After all, those building have hardly been used since the Legislature Raids took place some years back, Somebody could rent those buildings to other groups for other uses when the Legislature is not in session and the income generated would be taxable. Think of the block-buster movie a Hollywood producer could make - with the buildings under siege by a crazed BC Liberal Premier wannabe-dictator! A few American Navy Seals could liberate the buildings and save the day for NAFTA. The final scene could show those seals raising the flag of their homeland to a large, yet ruly, crowd of ever-so-quaint and polite Victorians cheering "Hip-Hip-Hooray!" The curtain drops.

  • KWD

    2 years ago

    more carbon and visual pollution

    One would think that in a world suffering from effects of too much carbon consumption, the emphasis of any right thinking government, particularly one that boasts about it’s carbon reduction policies, would be to discourage projects such as this that significantly add to the burden.

    The promotion of this obscenity, justified by encouraging greater spending by those that are excessively rich, makes it clear that the less-well-off will bear the burden of keeping the planet habitable.

  • alive

    2 years ago

    Bridge for sale anyone?

    "I don't know that they have anything to sell,"

    Since when did that stop any entrepenour?

  • Van Isle

    2 years ago

    Don't laugh folks. Our

    Don't laugh folks. Our wonderful Government in Ottawa sold a whole bunch of Government property just after they got elected in '06. Yep, it was a pretty good deal alright; sold them for a billion bucks and promptly leased them back. Smart, real smart. Just like Paul Martin did too; sold off Petro-Canada just before the price of oil went thru the roof. Smart, real smart. I suggest that the Federal Government should sell off the cenotaph in Ottawa too. Hell, they only use it a couple of times a year; lease it back for those special occassions like, Rememberance Day. Now, that's smart.

  • Fiat lux

    2 years ago

    I'm waiting for the time

    I'm waiting for the time when real democracy kicks in with parliamentary seats sold, globally, to the highest bidders, to make sure that government remains in the right hands. That will also discourage nationalistic economic isolationism by encouraging serious, wealth creating, foreign investment, with unlimited, efficient foreign labour to pour into this country.

    Just imagine the huge wealth creating benefits with the distinguished business leaders of the Bilderbergers, and the Trilatelars governing us, singing the Internationale, for the economic efficiency and benefit of the whole world.

    Ed Deak.

  • RickW

    2 years ago

    SIG

    Quote:
    the income generated would be taxable

    Correction, SIG. Because it is an "historical" site, the Libs would make sure the income is tax exempt, in return for "promising" to "maintain" the place.....

  • RickW

    2 years ago

    Ed

    Quote:
    I'm waiting for the time when real democracy kicks in with parliamentary seats sold, globally, to the highest bidders, to make sure that government remains in the right hands

    If I'm not mistaken, Ed, I think I read where they are considering backing elections in the US by "special interests". So you may yet be around to see that coming to a legislature/Parliament near you!

  • North of Hope

    2 years ago

    Rick W

    I think this is what you are referring to with your above comment. The US Supreme Court has said that corporations are the same as individuals and they can donate money to politicians and political parties. So a major coal company can donate however much it wants to politicians who support the use of coal as an energy source for electricity, etc. This will open up a flood-gate of donations to selected legislators. Look at what happened with the debate over health care and those concerning greenhouse gas emissions.

  • spvarga29

    2 years ago

    Gimme a break

    How is this even a story? So the company is taking deposits, big deal. That's not a story, unless you know absolutely zip about business practices. All they've sold is the right to be first in line should the marina get the approvals it needs to be built. This hardly casts any aspersions on the approval process.
    Instead, once again the Tyee has turned a non-story into a way to rail against the perceived injustice that there are actually people in this world who can afford luxury yachts. Oh, the horror! Should we take their yachts by force and redistribute them?
    I know a lot of people in the Victoria area whose jobs depend on the fact there are people who can afford to purchase, operate, and pay for repairs to yachts larger than the average marina can handle. Does the Tyee not speak for them?

  • skarpes

    2 years ago

    hey spvarga29

    You make one good point. There is nothing wrong with a business taking deposits as has been described here.
    BUT maybe you've missed the last year or so of reports? (Both here and in other media sources) whereby there has been serious concern expressed (in great numbers) by politians, business people, boaters, environmental groups, citizens etc about this developer and this project. (Or maybe you haven't missed them. In fact, I bet you're just someone who stands to gain from it all...)
    This isn't about redistributing wealth buddy, it's about keeping developers and their interest-partners within the rules of the game and helping people like you remember that the waters belong to all citizens. Many disagree with you spvarga29 and we appreciate Tyee and others for keeping us abreast of the details...

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