Post by KevDreger on May 2, 2007 18:16:24 GMT -5
Good news! That annoying 60 year old Simpson covenant that basically kept the lawson's landing from being built is no longer existent. Here is the article in the capital news.
Simpson covenant dumped by city council
By Jennifer Smith
Staff reporter
May 02 2007
Despite threat of a lawsuit, city council decided to follow its legal advice and abolish a 60-year old covenant protecting Kelowna’s downtown waterfront from commercial development this week.
The covenant was a condition of sale when Stanley Simpson sold a chunk of recently burned-out Kelowna Sawmill land to the city for $66,000.
In its place, council has agreed to rezone a long strip of waterfront as parkland and place a new restrictive covenant on title, in deference to the agreement struck with the sawmill operator over 60 years ago.
“I think that there are far more safeguards for the waterfront with zoning than any restrictive covenant we can place on it,” said Coun. Carol Gran, who was the first councillor to comment on a lengthy plan city hall’s real estate division presented.
Under the new zoning, any changes would require public input and a four-stage process to pass through council whereas a covenant can be lifted by majority vote of council at any time.
“Restrictive covenants can be removed without any public input and that’s why this is something that municipal governments use,” said Gran.
“We can’t do that. Governments have to go back to the people,” she added.
But the Simpson family believes the re-zoning effectively goes back on their deal.
On Friday, Simpson’s granddaughter Sharron Simpson called an emergency press conference threatening legal action if the city went ahead with the plan.
“I had hoped we would be celebrating today,” said Mayor Sharon Shepherd, telling the full audience in attendance that council had met with the Simpson family on several occasions to try and come to an amicable solution.
Shepherd questioned real estate manager David Shipclark on the wording of the document and was told the Simpson name was never on the covenant itself, which is under the signing authority of the Kelowna Sawmill Company—now an out-of-province holding company willing to sign off on their involvement in the issue.
“Council has agreed, since March, to put in place a binding covenant that mirrors the Kelowna Sawmill Covenant but in fact has legal value,” said Coun. Robert Hobson. “It would only require council to remove it. But, once in place, it has legal status which the Kelowna Sawmill Covenant does not have today.”
The Kelowna Sawmill Covenant was traded back and forth in land deals surrounding city hall over the years, leading the city’s legal advisors to deem it useless.
Even if it were legally binding it only takes a vote of council to overturn, whereas the new re-zoning takes a four-stage process, including public input, to be changed, Shipclark pointed out.
During Friday’s press conference, Simpson told reporters city officials are skirting the issue by deflecting attention onto the waterfront park rezoning.
The new re-zoning and covenant do nothing to protect the land where city hall sits, she said. Those lands are areas residents voted twice to purchase off the Simpson’s in two deals totaling $55,000.
Simpson would not give interviews Monday, slipping out before council’s ruling came down. But Tuesday morning saw the family matriarch and former city councillor pleading her case on two local morning shows.
Her lawyer, Tom Smithwick, told reporters Kelowna has not seen the end of the family’s involvement with this issue.
Smithwick contends the city’s version of Simpson covenant history misrepresents reality by eliminating Stanley Simpson’s name from their version of events and by saying it is not a legally binding document.
“It is a legal binding document. It is also an ethically binding one that has found not to hold much weight with this particular group,” he said.
Smithwick says the city’s background information, filed in the report before city councillors at Monday’s meeting, does not acknowledge that the land was a gift.
Stanley Simpson sold the city two parcels of land for well under market value, the Simpsons say.
Monies from the sale were used to clean up the land, which was badly burned in a fire at the Kelowna Sawmill Company.
© Copyright 2007 Kelowna Capital News
Simpson covenant dumped by city council
By Jennifer Smith
Staff reporter
May 02 2007
Despite threat of a lawsuit, city council decided to follow its legal advice and abolish a 60-year old covenant protecting Kelowna’s downtown waterfront from commercial development this week.
The covenant was a condition of sale when Stanley Simpson sold a chunk of recently burned-out Kelowna Sawmill land to the city for $66,000.
In its place, council has agreed to rezone a long strip of waterfront as parkland and place a new restrictive covenant on title, in deference to the agreement struck with the sawmill operator over 60 years ago.
“I think that there are far more safeguards for the waterfront with zoning than any restrictive covenant we can place on it,” said Coun. Carol Gran, who was the first councillor to comment on a lengthy plan city hall’s real estate division presented.
Under the new zoning, any changes would require public input and a four-stage process to pass through council whereas a covenant can be lifted by majority vote of council at any time.
“Restrictive covenants can be removed without any public input and that’s why this is something that municipal governments use,” said Gran.
“We can’t do that. Governments have to go back to the people,” she added.
But the Simpson family believes the re-zoning effectively goes back on their deal.
On Friday, Simpson’s granddaughter Sharron Simpson called an emergency press conference threatening legal action if the city went ahead with the plan.
“I had hoped we would be celebrating today,” said Mayor Sharon Shepherd, telling the full audience in attendance that council had met with the Simpson family on several occasions to try and come to an amicable solution.
Shepherd questioned real estate manager David Shipclark on the wording of the document and was told the Simpson name was never on the covenant itself, which is under the signing authority of the Kelowna Sawmill Company—now an out-of-province holding company willing to sign off on their involvement in the issue.
“Council has agreed, since March, to put in place a binding covenant that mirrors the Kelowna Sawmill Covenant but in fact has legal value,” said Coun. Robert Hobson. “It would only require council to remove it. But, once in place, it has legal status which the Kelowna Sawmill Covenant does not have today.”
The Kelowna Sawmill Covenant was traded back and forth in land deals surrounding city hall over the years, leading the city’s legal advisors to deem it useless.
Even if it were legally binding it only takes a vote of council to overturn, whereas the new re-zoning takes a four-stage process, including public input, to be changed, Shipclark pointed out.
During Friday’s press conference, Simpson told reporters city officials are skirting the issue by deflecting attention onto the waterfront park rezoning.
The new re-zoning and covenant do nothing to protect the land where city hall sits, she said. Those lands are areas residents voted twice to purchase off the Simpson’s in two deals totaling $55,000.
Simpson would not give interviews Monday, slipping out before council’s ruling came down. But Tuesday morning saw the family matriarch and former city councillor pleading her case on two local morning shows.
Her lawyer, Tom Smithwick, told reporters Kelowna has not seen the end of the family’s involvement with this issue.
Smithwick contends the city’s version of Simpson covenant history misrepresents reality by eliminating Stanley Simpson’s name from their version of events and by saying it is not a legally binding document.
“It is a legal binding document. It is also an ethically binding one that has found not to hold much weight with this particular group,” he said.
Smithwick says the city’s background information, filed in the report before city councillors at Monday’s meeting, does not acknowledge that the land was a gift.
Stanley Simpson sold the city two parcels of land for well under market value, the Simpsons say.
Monies from the sale were used to clean up the land, which was badly burned in a fire at the Kelowna Sawmill Company.
© Copyright 2007 Kelowna Capital News