CUMBERLAND, B.C. – The Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) Board has purchased a 113-acre parcel of land at the east end of Comox Lake.
According to a release, the “key land acquisition… will help protect water quality” in the lake.
The land was purchased from the Comox Lake Land Corporation for just over $2 million.
The corporation represents a group of cabin owners located on the east side of Comox Lake.
The land purchased includes roughly 6,800 feet of Comox Lake waterfront and is entirely located within the Village of Cumberland.
CVRD general manager of engineering services Marc Rutten said the district has been working with the corporation for roughly 18 months to put this acquisition together.
It is one of the last remaining, large, intact waterfront parcels in the most densely populated area of the watershed and, the release notes, “its purchase by the CVRD ensures the land will be protected for future generations.”
“The purpose of purchasing the land is for… watershed protection purposes, to ensure that it’s not developed,” Rutten explained. “Even though there’s no plans to develop the land, that can change in the future and the best way to control that is to own the property.”
The Comox Lake Land Corporation will retain 37 of 150 total acres of land for their existing cabins.
With a goal of assisting the CVRD in its efforts to protect the watershed, cabin owners have agreed to a significant holdback of the purchase price in exchange for the upgrade of under-performing on-site septic systems within two years of the sale of the property.
In 2016, the CVRD completed the Comox Lake Watershed Protection Plan, which was developed under the guidance of an advisory group composed of key Comox Lake watershed stakeholders.
The implementation of this plan is now underway.
“Today’s announcement addresses a key recommendation of the plan to strategically purchase land within the watershed for protection purposes,” according to the release.
“This agreement is a great example of collaboration with property owners to do the right thing for the environment in order to preserve our shared watershed,” Rutten said. “In doing so, we are all working towards ensuring high quality drinking water well into the future.”
The CVRD will now consult with stakeholders to determine the next steps for protecting this parcel of land.
