Many of Delta's float home owners and businesses that have water lot leases will no longer be dealing with Port Metro Vancouver.
The port authority has been managing provincially-owned water lots for the government for some time, but has decided to pull out once its agreement with Victoria expires at the end of 2014. The port will then only administer a small section of Fraser River foreshore within federal jurisdiction.
Tom Corsie, PMV's vice-president of real estate, confirmed the move. Corsie said it was decided the types of activities it was administering within the provincial zone are not reflective of the port's core mandate.
"The core thing that the port authority does, of course, is to promote, protect and facilitate international trade. We do that at the 28 marine terminals in our jurisdiction and the upland properties that we have developed. The other tenures, we think, will benefit from having the province of B.C. as their landlord," he said.
Corsie said there are about 360 individual tenures, everything from log storage, marinas and float homes, the port had been managing through a head lease on behalf of the province.
The port authority currently deals with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure when it comes to the leases within B.C.'s river jurisdiction, but when the agreement expires, the leases will be administered by the Ministry of Forests and Lands.
Corsie said the port would continue its commitment as far as dredging because it maintains navigation jurisdiction, including its local channel contribution program. On top of that, plans to start dredging the Ladner secondary channels following a major funding announcement a year ago will proceed early next year.
Last year, the port authority drew considerable heat locally from water lot leaseholders angered by rate hikes and new insurance requirements.
Port Metro Vancouver introduced the new rates to bring water lot rents up to what it considers market value. The port explained it was required by the province to charge "fair market value for the water lots," but the challenge had been determining such a value.
Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington, who met with upset commercial water lot leaseholders recently, said the port is likely pulling out because of the overwhelmingly negative reaction to how it's handling the leases.
"All we can hope is that the province has a little more sympathy and a little more understanding and a little better ability to deal with the public and the commercial users and the private float home owners.
"What the port has demanded is completely unacceptable, and it's been arrogant in the extreme. They have not agreed to negotiate, it's been ultimatums," Huntington said.
