West Vancouver mayor pledges ‘positive solution’ to controversial sale of public beach access

West Vancouver residents opposed to the sale of a public beach access took their message to city council on Monday, calling for the deal to be scrapped.

At issue is a public path to Altamont Beach the district is seeking to sell along with the adjacent parcel of vacant, municipally-owned land at 3000 Park Lane.

“This is an access to the waterfront that has been there for 100 years, and they are taking it away to add onto a piece of property and to sell it for development,” West Vancouver resident Lawrence Roulston told Global News.

“The way this transaction has happened is dubious,” added neighbour Michael Booth.

“We were told by the mayor that this is a done deal.”

The potential sale has sparked a backlash among community members, who appeared to have gotten their message across at Monday’s meeting.

“Members of council have heard their concerns loud and clear and we are working on a very positive solution to this issue,” West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sagar told the meeting.

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“I am not at liberty to go into any details today. It will come back in September. But, I think those that are concerned should probably enjoy the rest of the summer and just have faith that, the right things will happen.”

2:00 Land sale leads to West Vancouver beach access dispute

The district initially listed the vacant parcel of land for sale last year and rejected an initial offer of $5 million as too low.

The district later accepted an offer of $6.5 million with the trail included, money it says it needs to preserve a different slice of beachfront land in Ambleside for public use.

West Vancouver officials had argued two other nearby public paths still provide access to Altamont Beach.

But Roulston said both of those access points are troublesome, particularly one that involves a steep, 91-step wooden staircase.

“It’s not a pleasant path. And then it’s 350 metres walking in the other direction to a piece of rock that has a storm drain outlet,” he said.

“This access is a much different access, it’s a much more pleasant piece of beach, and it’s been there and used for 100 years, so why take it away now?”

Roulston said along with scrapping the deal, locals want an investigation into how the sale was approved so quickly and with so little public notification.