TheReview Wednesday, February 5,1992 — A3 5 § : 2 TESTING THE ROUGH waters off Lochside Drive Sunday is windsurfer Barry Ladell, Affer a few moments hesitation, he made it aloft and was swept along by the wind. GIRARD HENGEN photo ‘Genilemen’s agreemen? questioned by Girard Hengen The Review It’s news to members of the Saanich Pioneers’ Society that they are occupying land on the old Saanich Fair site without a bind- ing, legal lease. The society was under the assumption it had a valid 99-year lease dating from 1943 with the North and South Saanich Agricul- tural Society. The document gives the Pion- eers’ Society the right to use a 50 square-foot parcel of property at its log cabin museum, and the tight of access to the site, says society member Norma Sealey. “As far as we’re concemed, it should give us the legal right to Stay there,” she said. However, it was revealed at a Jan. 22 public meeting that there is no lease registered on the property at the Land Registry. And Central Saanich Mayor Ted Jones says the District has received a legal opinion stating that a lease signed that long ago has to be registered to be enforcea- ble. The partners in Polo Park Devel- opments Ltd., which bought the site last year for $2.1 million from the Agricultural Society, contend they own all 18 acres and the assets intact. Whether the lease, or “gentle- man’s agreement,” as some are calling it, derails Polo Park’s plans to develop a housing complex on the site remains to be seen. Merv Mawson, one of the four partners in the Victoria company, told the Jan. 22 meeting there is an agreement to deal with the Pion- eers’ Society and their buildings Central Saanich should pay share for Panorama Participation by Central Saanich in the operation and financing of the Panorama Leisure Centre was strongly recommended in a con- sultant’s report on the centre. The Professional Environmental Recreation Consultants’ report, received by Central Saanich coun- cil Jan. 20, recommends holding a referendum in Central Saanich this spring to gain voter approval for joint funding of the facility. The report noted Central Saa- nich was originally part of joint recreation commission established in 1974 but withdrew in 1976, at which time Sidney and North Saanich proceeded to build and operate the recreation centre. The centre opened in 1977. Although Central Saanich voters defeated a 1976 bylaw supporting construction of the centre, the consultant noted 40 per cent of those using the facilities live in Central Saanich. “In 1990, approximately 340,000 patrons passed through the doors of the centre,” the report “noted. “Statistics consistently show that this number divides into approximately 40 per cent from Central Saanich, 30 per cent from Sidney and 30 per cent from North Saanich.” Due to increased demand on the facility, the recreation commission has recently given priority regis- tration to North Saanich and Sid- ney residents, since those two municipalities fund operation of the centre. A recent Parks and Recreation Facility Master Plan by Central Saanich recommended the south Peninsula District become a part- ner in the Peninsula Recreation Commission instead of building a separate centre. Cooperation by all three munici- palities would make it more feasi- ble to upgrade the leisure centre to meet present population demands, the report suggested. “The cooperation of all three municipalities with a total esti- mated 1991 population of 34,340 would allow leisure services that all could be proud of. All users would feel equally welcome in the knowledge that they had equally contributed,” the report noted. An estimated $6 million is required to upgrade the leisure centre, of which $4 million would have to be covered by the three municipalities. Assuming Central Saanich joins the recreation commission, the report suggests a referendum on the upgrade could be put before voters in all three municipalities next fall. Books and More HAVE YOU HEARD? 3 A New Natural Foods Store is Now 3 SS Open in Sidney Rejuvenations Natural Foods Bulk Foods - Organic Produce Range Eggs - Vitamins - Herbs Located in Thrifty Foods Mall facing Tommy Tuckers Se et de a it i et aa a 656-8806 / > LEZEN LEI ABED PDI ATAI AD SLED AD ABE FDA BF under the terms of the sale. Plans are to have .9 acres which must be dedicated for parks located where the log cabin is on the site. Mawson said Polo Park’s law- yers believe there is no binding lease with the Pioneers’ Society. He said the society could be asked to move off the land, ““but it is not Our intention to do that.” “There is no rush to ask them to leave,’ he said in an interview after the meeting. “Tf it is possible to accommo- date them in a park, that is proba- bly the best answer.” Agricultural Society president Ken Button acknowledged the existence of a “gentlemen’s agree- ment” dating from 1943. Under it, the Pioneers’ Society paid $1 a year to the Agricultural Society for the nght to stay on the latter’s property. He said this amount had not been paid in recent years, but Pioneers’ Society members coun- tered that it had. Sealey said after the public meeting that her group’s records show the $1 has been turned over. “There is a lease. The money has been paid each year,” she said, adding the fact that the Agricul- tural Society accepted payment indicates. it recognized the validity of the document. However, Button told the meet- ing it is not a legal lease or contract that Polo Park is obliged to live up to. 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