Any town is made up of an array of stories, and there were a lot of them in Ladysmith this year, as there are every year.
Sometimes choosing a story of the year or stories of the year includes some debate in the newsroom, but if we may say, this year’s was kind of obvious. The looming eviction of the Ladysmith Maritime Society from the Ladysmith Community Marina water lot was the clear story of the year, along with the related meetings, protest, petition and court case.
The Town of Ladysmith’s Ladysmith Unparalleled official community plan was a runner-up story of the year, as not only was the OCP adopted this year, but the town has also gotten started on implementation, with active transportation goals, downtown density and reconciliation action some examples. The opening of the Heart on the Hill building was another top story, as the community gained much-needed affordable housing, but not without some disagreement around who gets to live there. From the business beat, there was no bigger local story than 49th Parallel Grocery selling its stores to Country Grocer. Some other stories that made news were the re-zoning application for Schnitzer Steel, more Resident Alien filming, Ladysmith Secondary School’s high-achieving improv team, MLA Doug Routley’s retirement announcement, and we can’t forget plans to re-design Ladysmith’s flag.
Of course, there were topics with provincial and national scale that were felt in Ladysmith, things like the housing crisis and measures to address it, and inflation and affordability challenges.
Some of this year’s stories of the year carried over from last year and will continue into the new year. Some might be stories of the year next year, too. Whatever the case, there’s a certainty that stories that we can’t foresee will become top of mind at some point. We look forward to reporting on them as they happen.
Happy new year to all readers.
Story of the year: Marina transition loudly protested
An eviction notice that turned into protests, politics, petitions, and now a court case made for troubled waters at the Ladysmith Community Marina over 2023, which made the marina dispute the Chronicle’s news story of the year.
In early March, the Ladysmith Maritime Society, a non-profit that has been operating the marina and enhancing the Ladysmith waterfront since 1985, was served with a notice to vacate the marina by Dec. 31, 2023.
The eviction notice came after the province signed a reconciliation agreement with Stz’uminus First Nation in 2022, which committed to land transfers valued up to $28.5 million, with $10 million from the province for the environmental clean-up of Crown land.
In a press release in late summer, Stz’uminus Chief John Elliott compared the transfer of the water lot to the First Nation as a homecoming and called it a “significant milestone” in a journey of reconciliation.
“This sets the stage for making things right,” he said. “We embrace the economic and recreational opportunities at Ladysmith Harbour to build a sustainable future for current and future generations.”
According to the Town of Ladysmith, which leases the land from the province, Stz’uminus First Nation’s economic arm, the Coast Salish Development Corporation, approached the town with an option to transfer the lease to the corporation in 2026 instead of the 2029 contract end date.
The land transfer is expected to help further the town’s waterfront area plan, which aims to increase Stz’uminus presence on the waterfront and upgrade the area with what has been described by the town as a “mini Granville Island.”
During discussions in the fall of 2022, the corporation offered the maritime society an agreement to operate the marina until 2026, and the society sent a counter offer, but didn’t hear back until it was given the notice to leave. The town later said in a statement that the first offer was non-negotiable.
On May 3, the society held a town hall meeting at which more than 300 concerned residents and boating enthusiasts crammed into Aggie Hall to discuss the future of the marina.
At the meeting, LMS president Kelly Daniels said the corporation indicated it wanted to further discuss a number of items in the offer, and the notion that the society misunderstood that the agreement was negotiable was false.
“That sounds like negotiation, at least to me,” said Daniels at the meeting. “[The proposal] to also allow [the corporation] to use our facilities as collateral, of course, that’s a major problem. First of all, we don’t think we can allow a not-for-profit corporation, currently a for-profit corporation, to use our facilities as collateral for the issues of security defaults, if there’s any difficulty with paying the creditors that come after those assets.”
In late May, more than 100 marina supporters protested in front of MLA Doug Routley’s office, and introduced the petition that would garner over 3,000 signatures and be delivered to the B.C. legislature.
Over the summer, the society said it resumed talks with the First Nation, the town, and the province, but talks quickly stalled and no changes were made.
As fall arrived, the society learned that in a series of closed meetings in the spring and summer, the town made changes to the water lot’s holding corporation, which included changing the name to the Ladysmith Harbour Economic Development Corporation, and three LMS members were dismissed.
The maritime society commenced legal proceedings against the Town of Ladysmith and applied for a court injunction to halt the abandonment of the lease.
Richard Wiefelspuett, spokesperson for the society, said last week he didn’t know what would happen after Dec. 31.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.
The marina’s name will change Jan. 1 to Oyster Bay Marina.