A company has lost its fight against an easement on its Mayne Island property to access a public wharf.
The wharf in Horton Bay, held by the federal government and operated by the Capital Regional District, was built in 1960 and opened to the public that year.
An established foot path leads from Horton Bay Road to the wharf.
Arbutus Bay Estates wanted to develop a private marina next to the wharf or to privatize the wharf and become the owner, “but those efforts were stymied,” according to a decision by the sa国际传媒 Court of Appeal.
The company previously lodged an unsuccessful civil suit in 2013 against the Canadian government, the CRD and the province, seeking cancellation of the easement.
It argued at trial that the easement expired when the wharf’s size and configuration changed in the 1970s or when the CRD took over operation in 2007.
Arbutus Bay Estates largely lost that case, although the judge found a small portion of the wharf and path were outside the allowed area and therefore did infringe on the company’s property rights in a minor way, the decision says.
The company appealed that decision and was largely unsuccessful, and an application to appeal to the Supreme Court of sa国际传媒 was denied in 2018.
The company filed a new civil claim in 2020 against the federal government, the CRD and the province.
An appeal of that claim was recently dismissed.
“The judge found the appellant’s present claim to be an abuse of process. The focus of the claim and Ms. [Paula] Buchholz’s evidence was on her many grievances over the years and her dissatisfaction with the trial decision and the Court of Appeal decision allowing rectification,” says a Jan. 14 decision issued by sa国际传媒 Court of Appeal Justices Susan Griffin, Gail Dickson and Patrice Abrioux.
Buchholz is president of Arbutus Bay Estates.
