They’re seven cabins dotting Belcarra’s south waterfront. Picturesque and isolated in Belcarra Regional Park, long-term residents have leased their properties from Metro Vancouver for decades. In return for low rent, currently $500 a month, they’re tasked with upkeep and stewardship of the area.
Now Metro Vancouver wants them out. But the group isn’t going down without a fight.
“There just has to be better solutions than taking prime land and tearing down these cottages,” says Jo Lendingham, who has lived in her cottage since the 70s.
Metro Vancouver wants to increase access to the waterfront and expand a picnic area. They also say that the cost of upgrading the homes and septic system would be too much. They first gave the cottagers a notice in 2013, but that was pushed back a year after public backlash.
“It’s a really old story, but Joni Mitchell was right, we are tearing down paradise and putting up a parking lot,” said Lendingham.
Earlier this week, Port Moody city council passed a motion requesting that the site be given heritage designation, while exploring was to work with Metro Vancouver going forward.
But as of now, the residents will be evicted on June 28.
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