After battling the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp. (SODC) in and out of court for more than a year about whether he should be forced to remove his locally built dock in the Cattermole Slough, Peter Legere got rid of the floats on June 30.
"I made a promise to remove them and I'm the type of guy who keeps my promises," said the self-proclaimed "guerilla planner."
"But that doesn't mean I agree with SODC's argument that the dock was a major liability to them - the water lot doesn't belong to them."
That was Legere's argument during his lawsuit against SODC and Capilano University in the fall, which he settled in December "to save the taxpayers of Squamish more unnecessary expense."
The lawsuit cost SODC between $20,000 and $30,000, according to SODC chair Bill McNeney, who wasn't convinced Legere conceded for the taxpayers' sake.
"As far as I know, he stopped because he wasn't going to win," McNeney said in December, after the court case was settled and Legere signed an indemnity agreement.
The dispute and court case centered on one theme: Who owns what portion of the land?
While Legere was and still is convinced that Cattermole Slough is Crown-owned - not under District of Squamish's control - SODC was certain it belonged to SODC, the District of Squamish and Capilano University.
Legere based his argument on a 1960s bylaw stating that once land is subdivided, any land below tide level (underwater land) is automatically reclaimed as Crown land.
For Legere's argument to hold true, the underwater land in question must be connected to Crown land at some point. He hired a land surveyor to help prove this was the case south of Capilano University's property, which is south of Legere's property on the west side of the slough.
The survey verified that the Crown property currently exists, but only recently reverted to Crown control.
According to McNeney, the bylaw wasn't applicable in this case because the land in question was not connected to Crown land when it was subdivided.
SODC spokesperson Heather Dunham said she verified that the docks were gone a few days into July, but expressed concern that the stairs haven't been removed and there are still two boats in the area.
"I believe the stairs leading down to the docks are still there which is on Capilano University's land and I believe those are supposed to be removed as well," she said.
"There are still two remaining vessels on SODC water lot property that are considered a liability because if anything were to happen to the boats or to the individuals on the boats, that liability comes back to the District of Squamish and the Oceanfront - even if they're just parked there."
Dunham said SODC's intent is clear.
"From the outset, our interest was to make sure to mitigate liability issues for SODC and the District of Squamish," she said. "At this point we don't know who owns those two vessels but we will certainly be working towards having a conversation with those people."
Josh Meilinger's floating work of art, which attracted widespread attention from locals wanting to step aboard for a closer look, is not one of the two remaining vessels. It has moved to another location in Cattermole Slough and according to Dunham, it is no longer SODC's concern.
"It's actually on [a] private landowner's property now, so that's not our concern anymore," she said.
The intricately carved wooden houseboat now sits at the north end of Cattermole Slough on Westmana's Lot 41. The Meilingers don't live on the vessel, and last summer Meilinger said he had aspirations of using it for a restaurant or harbour cruise business.
According to area landowner Ted Prior, Westmana principal René David is more than happy to host the houseboat, and a sailboat moved from Legere's dock, for the time being.
Prior said ensuring there are large boats in the slough is actually an asset to David and will likely be a cause for SODC concern in the future if the company wants to build a bridge over the slough.
"Allowing those boats to anchor there is a statement to what's transpired in that area in the last 10 years," Prior said.
He said what's transpired is a whole lot of planning and not a lot of action to help move David's development proposal along, especially considering that Lot 41 is key to the future of the Oceanfront lands since it's envisioned as the primary access to the tip of the peninsula.
"They've [the boats] moved over onto Westmana's property and so nobody can tell them to leave," Prior said. "Westmana wants them there and anyone that owns that property would want them there to ensure status over navigable waters."
According to Prior, when officials at the Navigable Waters Protection Program, which is run by Transport Canada, approve a bridge, they have to assess all the boats in the area and make sure the bridge is high enough to allow those boats access to the ocean.
"Navigable waters comes in and sends a surveyor up to survey all the boats. He surveys all the boats to the north side of the proposed bridge and whatever the tallest boat is at that day is the height the bridge has to be," he said.
David did not return calls by press time. A more in-depth look at the options being discussed for access to the Oceanfront peninsula will be discussed in next week's edition of The Chief.
