Land gifts and purchases expand Comox Valley parks

Director Grieve says greenspaces like the coastal first and second growth of Maris Nature Park are an investment in the future, and a benefit to mental health within the community. Photo courtesy of CVRD Parks and Recreation

On Monday January 13th, the CVRD Electoral Areas Services Committee (EASC) made public the acquisition and expansion of five park spaces throughout the Comox Valley. 

Director Edwin Grieve, electoral area director for Area C and Chair of the EASC, spoke to CHLY and CVOX about the anticipated announcement.

“We've been waiting for a while to be able to rise and report on these because they've been in the works for quite some time,” he says.

Fanny Bay Community Park was once the site of a historic schoolhouse. Photo: CVRD Parks and Recreation

Five parks were expanded or procured in this announcement, Grieve says, starting with an approximately one acre purchase of the former Fanny Bay Elementary School, now dubbed Fanny Bay Community Park. 

The second, according to Grieve, is Mallard Creek Park which is almost an acre in Area B, just off Back Road.

Third is an extension to the One Spot Trail, which Grieve says has been a long time in the making, bringing it closer to connecting with other trail systems one day.

“It's over 20 years now we've been working on the One Spot Trail,” Grieve says. “It's a small portion, the very north-most extension of the trail.”

Grieve says most exciting is a donation by an Area C resident, Bruce Bell. This park, donated through the federal Ecological Gifts program, is special because of its shorefront location and connection to neighbouring parks.

“It's an additional five and a half acres, right along the Strait of Georgia,” he says.

The fifth and final park in Monday’s announcement is also the biggest; presently dubbed “Spike Road Park.” Grieve says it is nearly 116 acres of undeveloped forest land purchased from Mosaic Forest Products.

“This is right in between Headquarters Townsite area, Spike Road, and Endall Road or Kelland Road on that side, going north,” Grieve says.

Director Grieve says that being able to procure land for parks, through purchases and donations, is an investment in the future of the community, and an opportunity that can’t be missed.

“You know, we only have one chance of procuring these special places,” Grieve says.

He says these greenspaces have greater meaning as time moves on.

“ Like they say, they don't make it anymore,” Grieve muses, “but you know, going forward into the future, it'll be invaluable for people to be able to have spaces in their neighbourhoods. Even there's some little parks that are just neighbourhood parks, they're so important to have for the well-being of the [society] and mental health and all that stuff.”

Grieve says that donations of land through the federal ecological gift program, like the one made by Bruce Bell of Area C, allow landowners to donate property for public use, and receive a federal tax benefit. 

“So, we're willing to take any bequeathment of land. Anybody out there that wants to leave their property for time immemorial, we'll certainly honour them and keep it in public hands,” he says.

Grieve says that the parks have been a success of the work of the EASC, often in collaboration with the Comox Valley Land Trust, and over time as neighbourhoods and communities continue to grow, these parks will remain as greenspaces for public access. 

One success story Grieve shares is the vast progress made on the One Spot Trail, which he hopes will one day connect Courtenay to the Oyster River, as a legacy for the people of the Comox Valley.

“Quietly, slowly, piece-by-piece, [we’ve] been working on the One Spot Trail now for over 25 years, and eventually my hope is that you will be able to get on a bike or get on a horse or walk from from Courtenay all the way to the Oyster River,” he says.

Grieve says the biggest challenge for parks is with visitors not respecting the local habitat and adjacent landowners, with off-leash dogs attacking both livestock and local wildlife, as well as visitors leaving litter such as drug paraphernalia along trailways. 

Freshly maintained stairs at Eagles Drive Park, near Maris Park, McLoughlin Park, and newly donated land. Photo: CVRD Parks and Recreation

“I just ask people to be respectful when you're out in nature,” Grieve says. “Just remember that this is a privilege that everybody wants to enjoy.”

Grieve says that it is a slow process getting these spaces ready for public use, between negotiations, budget spending, and volunteer time. He says for people’s safety it is recommended they wait until trails are blazed, however these are now public lands. 

“All we ask is that as you tread lightly on the earth and whatever you bring in, bring out with you again,” he says.

Grieve encourages anyone who has land in their family without a succession plan to consider bequeathing it to the community through the parks department at the CVRD, to be protected and shared among the people for generations to come. 

“ We'd be only too happy to be able to put covenants on them and save them for a time immemorial,” Grieve says.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada. Reporting done in the Comox Valley is done in partnership with CVOX.