Council asked to weigh options over yacht club

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD

andy.blatchford@transcontinental.ca

A Beaconsfield citizens group is upset over a city plan to invest as much as $1 million into a private yacht club.

Repairs to the Lord Reading Yacht Club's aging seawall and building are listed in the city's 2007-'09 capital program.Beaconsfield could earmark $500,000 in 2007 and again in 2008 for the project. The city owns the yacht club's property, but non-members have limited access.

"Why are they spending all that money on that (land) if other people don't have direct access to it?" said Beaconsfield Citizens Association secretary Larry McKinnon. "(Beaconsfield) needs the money."

Beaconsfield Mayor Bob Benedetti said the city bought the land from Lord Reading in 2001 for $150,000 in an agreement that will enable the club to continue operations until the contract expires in 2018.

Today, the land is worth close to $2.9 million, according to Montreal's property-valuation website — a value that has some residents wondering whether the city should unload it.

McKinnon understands the city is responsible for maintaining its properties, but said council should consider the future before spending too much.

"That's a very valuable piece of land," he said of the 20,000-square-metre waterfront property. "(But) if over the next 10 years (Beaconsfield's) got to spend $4 or $5 million, what's the advantage of something like that?"

He suggested the city explore breaking or buying out the lease with Lord Reading.

McKinnon said Beaconsfield could sell off at least part of the land for development and returns could be directed back to taxpayers.

A new development could also fund a smaller marina on part of the site, he added.

Citizens have also spoken out against the project during city council meetings.

Beaconsfield residents are still fuming after they saw property taxes jump in 2006 — some by over 30 per cent.

Benedetti said the contract, signed by a previous council, is "pretty solid."

"Is it worth it for us to have to maintain this property over the years for the benefit of 100 to 200 members of a yacht club? That decision has already been made by somebody else," Benedetti said.

Even though Beaconsfield does not collect taxes from the club, keeping the land is in the best interest of citizens, he said.

"In the long-term, the residents of Beaconsfield are getting value for their money," said Benedetti, who estimates the land could fetch more than $5 million if it was rezoned for high-rise condominiums. "You can't put a price on public access to the lake, either visually or otherwise."

He said if the contract is not renewed in 2019, the property will become protected park land.

Benedetti said Lord Reading will be more accessible to non-members in 2007.

Starting this spring, 40 day passes, which permit boat launches and day parking for vehicles and trailers, will be sold to non-members for $100 each.

The mayor said the city is also exploring other ways to open up the club.

"The people who are screaming about the (Lord Reading) Yacht Club, to my mind, are a relatively small minority and I could practically name them," said Benedetti. "They may not be getting benefit from it today, but their children will get benefits from it."

City director general Patrice Boileau said the city also spent $800,000 last year on necessary repairs to a heritage building at the city-owned Beaconsfield Yacht Club.

Boileau described Beaconsfield's capital program as a "wish list" and said details concerning the Lord Reading proposal still have to be finalized.