I am one of 2 Pender Island property owners who is being sued by the Island Trust. I had chosen to not comment publicly about the harassment and waste of tax payers money (your money) that the Island Trust is spending until now! On November 10th, I received yet another correspondence from the Island Trust lawyer that was sent to my lawyer stating: It appears that off-islanders are using the North Pender property this weekend. As we agreed that there would be no rentals of the property pending a decision of the court, other than the one rental last month... As it turns out, the rental the lawyer referred to was a 34 day rental from October 9th to November 11th that they were informed about when the above agreement was formed in October. This is clearly legal as Short Term Vacation Rentals are defined as periods of less than 30 days. It is the duty of our trustees to have clear by-laws governing our island but the present trustees have neglected this duty choosing instead to force the courts to make a decision about the legality of Short Term Vacation rentals on North Pender Island through their lawsuit against us. We continually receive correspondence from the Island Trust lawyers always sent to our lawyer thus running our legal fees up. To date, these fees are approaching $30,000 and the court date isnt until January (another $15,000 estimated). I would assume the same or more costs have been paid by Island Trust to their legal team. The Islands Trust Act states: “The object of the trust is to preserve and protect the trust area and its unique amenities and environment for the benefit of the residents of the trust area and of British Columbia generally, in cooperation with municipalities, regional governments, improvement districts, other persons and organizations and the government of British Columbia.” as stated in Gary Steeves website. Apparently the off-islanders; the rest of us who live in British Columbia who pay to maintain and preserve our roads, park systems plus more, are not welcome on Pender Island. The Island Trust wants to preserve and protect for islanders only! I share this with all of you now as I feel strongly our present Trustees are setting neighbour against neighbour and it is time for a change in leadership. A leadership that is not afraid to be open and transparent and to make by-laws clear to all that they govern! Because of this, I have voted for Dianne Barber and Derek Masselink and I strongly urge you to as well! Disclaimer: The opinion expressed is solely my own and not on behalf of any organization or group. Sincerely, Ron Schuster Property Owner Pender Island
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 16:11:55 +0000
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