Town of Qualicum Beach unable to negotiate Eaglecrest Golf Course Acquisition

In todays press release, the Town of Qualicum Beach confirmed that the town has been in negotiations to acquire the Eaglecrest Golf Course lands. The press release stated that the town approached the owners and that several options have been offered however the owners of the property have declined the Town's proposals. It further states " the town remains committed to preserving the golf course's integrity and the green space that benefits the community, the town is not able to meet the proposals set forth by the owners to acquire the land. " "No further offers will be made at this time."

Given the high number of closed council meetings relating to land and angst in the Eaglecrest community, this disclosure is long overdue. To date the council has been corresponding directly with the Eaglecrest Residents' Association, however the remaining community who presumably will be sharing in any cost of this acquisition have largely been left in the dark. There is no reference to acquiring land in Eaglecrest or elsewhere in either the 2024 or 2025 budgets nor in the corresponding strategic plans.

What is the upside of the Town purchasing the privately owned Eaglecrest Golf course lands?

The land is approximately 110 acres of which 103 are privately owned and town owns 7 acres. The land is designated for parks and recreational use in the current OCP. If OCP land use changes were to be considered, the process would require extensive public consultation.

If the purpose of buying the property is to change the zoning to accommodate more housing or some combination of greenspace protection and housing, the town should be upfront with all residents and the current owner. Despite what the public wants or demonstrates through the consultation process, at the end of the day it is your town council making the final decision.

If the purpose of acquiring the land is to protect the land as "community greenspace" we should leave the land in the hands of the owner and or subsequent owners hopefully operating as a golf course. The current zoning as recreation 3 and 4 limits permitted uses as a golf course. Any parcels that are zoned Recreation 1 or 2 have more flexible permitted uses including residential uses. Based on the town's zoning map very little of this land (if any falls) within the Recreation 1 and 2 zones.

If the town sees the golf course as a good investment based on their experience with the Memorial Golf Course they should at minimum seek public input and have staff prepare an appropriate business plan before committing to the purchase of the land.

From a day to day perspective if the current owner chooses to leave the property fallow, they reduce their operating costs, and the public will likely continue to walk illegally on the course as they have done for the past few years since the course was reduced from 18 to 9 holes.

The town continues to benefit from the taxes collected and has the ability to manage the condition of the land through existing "Unsightly Premises" bylaws. If the town were to buy the land, we would need to increase property taxes to cover up keep of the property by our parks staff.

Personally, I see no urgency or compelling need for the town to buy the land. We continue to under fund our asset replacement reserves and still have ongoing unsustainable annual property tax increases. Is this a good use of tax payer money?

Marie Noel

February 14 2025

We welcome your feedback and comments.

You can email us at Qualicumbeachinsights@gmail.com

More Info

news release News Release -Eaglecrest Golf Course Acquisition.pdf

Oct 24 2024 letter from the town to Eaglecrest Resident Association

FAQ Lease negotiations with Eaglecrest Golf Course