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ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: February 22, 1996
Dept. File No.000 020
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services in consultation
with Director of Legal Services and
Manager of Real Estate Services
SUBJECT: Cassiar Connector - Land Exchange Between the City
and Ministry of Transportation & Highways
RECOMMENDATIONS
A. THAT Council accept for information this report which
describes the process by which a land exchange will occur
between the City of Vancouver and the Ministry of
Transportation & Highways, pertaining to lands within and
adjacent to the Cassiar Connector portion of the Trans-Canada
Highway, between First Avenue and the Second Narrows Bridge.
B. THAT all those portions of Kitchener Street, Grant Street,
Skeena Street, Graveley Street, the lane north of Kitchener
Street within Block 100, the lane south of Graveley Street
within Block 104 and the First Avenue On-ramp onto the Trans-
Canada Highway, dedicated by Reference Plan 22684, each the
same as shown within the heavy outline on the plan attached
as Appendix A, be closed, stopped-up and conveyed to the
Ministrh of Transportation & Highways, subject to the
following conditions:
1. The said City streets and lanes to be closed are
subdivided to create a single parcel, as shown within
the heavy outline and labelled Parcel 1 on the plan
attached as Appendix `B', to the satisfaction of the
General Manager of Engineering Services and the
Approving Officer; and
2. The Ministry of Transportation & Highways to grant the
City rights-of-way or other forms of tenure, to protect
and secure the right for utilities belonging to both the
City and the public utility companies, to remain in the
streets and lanes to be closed, stopped-up and conveyed
to the satisfaction of the General Manager of
Engineering Services and the Director of Legal Services.
C. THAT the 38 properties, shown hatched on the
plan attached as Appendix "A" and listed within the attached
Appendix "C", whose titles are in the name of the City of
Vancouver, be conveyed to the Ministry of Transportation &
Highways for a nominal amount of $1.00 each, subject to their
subdivision into a single parcel, as shown within the heavy
outline and labelled Parcel 1 on the plan attached as
Appendix "B", to the satisfaction of the General Manager of
Engineering Services and the Approving Officer.
D. THAT all that portion of Block B, Sections 28 and 29, Town of
Hastings Suburban Lands, Plan 19244 (Rupert Park), owned by
the City and in the care and custody of the Park Board, as
shown cross-hatched on the plan attached as Appendix "B", be
conveyed to the Ministry of Transportation & Highways for a
nominal amount of $1.00, subject to its subdivision into the
parcel shown within the heavy outline and labelled Parcel 1
on the plan attached as Appendix "B", to the satisfaction of
the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Approving
Officer.
E. THAT the Director of Legal Services be authorized to execute
the plans, transfers and documents required to complete
Recommendations B, C and D, on behalf of the City.
COUNCIL POLICY
The authority for closing and disposing of portions of streets and
lanes is set out in the Vancouver Charter.
The Vancouver Charter allows Council to dispose of City-owned property
to be deemed to be surplus to the City's needs.
SUMMARY
There are a number of issues related to ownership and hence
responsibility, of the land area known as the Cassiar Connector,
forming a portion of the Trans-Canada Highway from First Avenue to the
Second Narrows Bridge. A maintenance agreement has been prepared, and
while not yet executed, lays the foundation for maintenance
responsibilities. The maintenance agreement does not address issues of
ownership. The portion of the Trans-Canada Highway from First Avenue
to the Second Narrows Bridge, (the "Cassiar Connector") is presently a
combination of City streets and lanes, Crown land and titled properties
(600+) owned by the City and the Ministry of Transportation & Highways.
This report and recommendations lay the foundation to improve a
situation of confusing ownership responsibilities. Staff believe the
recommendations, when implemented, will result in clear ownership, in
the name of the Ministry of Transportation & Highways of the lands that
operate as a Provincial Highway.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to:
1. Inform Council of the need, process and steps to be undertaken to
complete an exchange between the City and the Ministry of
Transportation & Highways (M.O.T.H.), on lands within and adjacent
to the Cassiar Connector portion of the Trans-Canada Highway,
between First Avenue and the Second Narrows (Ironworkers Memorial)
Bridge.
2. Obtain Council approval to close, stop-up and convey to M.O.T.H.
those portions of City streets and lanes included in the Cassiar
Connector between First Avenue and Charles Street.
3. Obtain Council approval to convey to M.O.T.H. those properties
whose titles are in the name of the City included in the Cassiar
Connector between First Avenue and Charles Street.
BACKGROUND
The Cassiar Connector project was completed in 1993, and forms a
portion of the Trans-Canada Highway extending from First Avenue north
to the Second Narrows Bridge. City staff and M.O.T.H. have been
working on an exchange of properties, within and adjacent to the
Cassiar Connector to resolve issues pertaining to the "legal" ownership
of the lands.
Many of the issues are unique to the City of Vancouver and exist
because of historical conflicts between the Vancouver Charter, the
Highway Act and the Land Title Act.
M.O.T.H. has historically been guided in their operation of highways
and the acquisition of lands required for new highways by the Highway
Act, and the principles contained therein. Typically M.O.T.H. staff
would negotiate land acquisition from owners, execute a simplified
conveyance document, and then "gazette" the Highway. The gazette
notice was the only requirement under the Highway Act to establish
certain lands as public highway, with ownership vested in the
Provincial Crown. The Highway Act is not consistent with the Land
Title Act as the mere filing of a gazette notice in a Land Title Office
does not act in any way to transfer the portions of private lands
contained within the gazette notice.
As a result, large areas of provincial highways throughout the province
do not exist under the interpretation of the Land Title Act. Many
hundreds of owners of land abutting a highway, or through which a
highway runs, have no indication on title that the highway exists, or
that they may own something less than the original parcel.
To validate, under the Land Title Act, the acquisition of land for
highways requires M.O.T.H. to file a "Form 12" in the Land Title
Office. The Form 12 acts to create the exception on title, and
establish the portion of land as road vested in the Provincial Crown.
A complication exists within the City of Vancouver. As described in
the Vancouver Charter, the City is the owner of all streets and lanes
within the City. This is inconsistent with the Highway Act in that
lands established by gazette notice are vested in the Provincial Crown.
As a result, M.O.T.H. has not deposited Form 12's for the lands
contained within the Cassiar Connector, because it would result in the
dedication of these lands as road, and therefore, the transfer of
ownership to the City.
DISCUSSION
Cassiar Connector
M.O.T.H., between 1960 and 1965, prepared plans of survey that were
deposited in the Vancouver Land Title Office as Highway Plan(s) 27, 28,
33, 46 and 62. They covered all of the Trans-Canada Highway throughout
the City as it existed in the early 1960s, including the Rupert Street
Off-ramp through Rupert Park. It is noted that while M.O.T.H.
compensated the City for titled lands contained within the 1960s Trans-
Canada Highway, albeit without filing Form 12s, we have not found any
record that would indicate that compensation was paid for the areas
that were road or lane as owned by the City. This land was the City's
contribution to the 1960s construction of the Highway.
Since 1992, the Cassiar Connector has undergone significant changes,
including a tunnel under Hastings Street, a new Rupert Street Off-ramp,
significant reconstruction of overpasses at Bridgeview and McGill
Streets, the Skeena Tunnel and an overpass at Adanac Street.
This reconstruction of the Cassiar Connector results in certain lands
being returned to the City, some for park, some for road, and some as
titled parcels, and results in M.O.T.H. acquiring additional City lands
for Highway. An exchange of lands is the appropriate method to
accomplish the task of placing ownership and responsibility for various
titled parcels under the correct administration. On October 17, 1995,
Council approved the recommendation of the General Manager of
Engineering Services and declined ownership of a triangular-shaped
parcel of land adjacent to Fellowes Street, north of Cambridge Street.
That decision resolved a major issue and allows for the exchange to
proceed. It is noted that a Maintenance Agreement has been negotiated,
although not yet executed, for lands within the Cassiar Connector. The
Maintenance Agreement relates only to maintenance responsibilities and
is peripheral to the question of ownership. Council support of the
land exchange process described in this report will address the
question of ownership, of the underlying lands. The Maintenance
Agreement has been prepared with this exchange in mind and the two
tasks parallel each other.
When the construction of the new Cassiar Connector was first discussed,
the City and M.O.T.H. agreed that each party would contribute land as
is, where is and as necessary without further monetary consideration to
either party. It was also agreed that after construction was
completed, the parties would complete an exchange and place ownership
and responsibility for lands under the appropriate administration.
Ownership and Exchange
The underlying land in the Cassiar Connector is made up of
approximately 500 titled properties, 111 titled portions of lane
established by Council Resolution, surveyed Crown Land and numerous
City streets and lanes, dedicated by the deposit of Subdivision or
Reference Plans. The majority of the titled portions are owned by
M.O.T.H., or the City, with a limited number (approximately 12) owned
by private individuals or corporations. These private owners have been
compensated for the land involved.
Where the majority of users see a Highway, what we now know exists is a
complicated series of 600 + titled portions of land owned by the two
main parties, and a series of dedicated streets and lanes. This leads
to numerous existing problems and potential problems. There is a
concern that if litigation were to occur as a result of a motor vehicle
accident on the Connector, the City and M.O.T.H. would be enjoined in
the action, due to ownership concerns, both parties having to defend
any such action. The ability to properly manage assets, is placed in
limbo by over-lapping ownership. An example is Rupert Park, which
cannot be dealt with effectively because of the confusion over
ownership. The park has been redeveloped and experienced problems
because development permits were delayed, due to the existence of
gazette notices for Highway that is no longer required. In addition,
the Park Board has constructed park facilities on land owned by
M.O.T.H., and M.O.T.H. has highway constructed on land owned by the
City, but under the care and custody of the Park Board.
When these 600 + titles are researched in the Land Title Office, there
is no method of identifying that they are part of an operating highway.
A risk exists that future property managers at both the City and
M.O.T.H., may believe that there is property that can be sold as
developable properties. This risk increases with computerization and
geographic information systems, because as the systems increase in
sophistication, the sophistication of the average user decreases.
It is unnecessary to have 600 titles for land that can easily be
identified on less than 10 titles. M.O.T.H. and the City have embarked
on a series of legal surveys, the result of which will be to create
approximately 8 parcels of land, each with a title in the name of
M.O.T.H., to cover the Cassiar Connector. Each parcel will define a
simplified area representing a unique section of the Connector.
The advantage of the exchange is to create single parcels clearly owned
by M.O.T.H. and clearly for Highway purposes. The goal is to make the
Highway M.O.T.H. owned. This requires the closure and conveyance of
various City streets and lanes and the transfer of titles in the name
of the City. The City will require utility rights-of-way across the
M.O.T.H. parcels in appropriate (existing) locations. The maintenance
agreement contains a provision for future registration of appropriate
documentation, such as rights-of-way. In addition, certain lands being
transferred to the City (example, the Rupert Park parking lot north of
Charles Street), will be consolidated into single parcels wherever and
whenever possible. Air Space Parcels will be created for the Hastings
Street, Skeena Street and Bridgeway Tunnels and the Adanac Street
Overpass. In addition, a number of City roads and lanes will be
dedicated on the subdivision plans to be registered as part of the
exchange.
This report begins the process of Council authority to complete the
exchange. This first section, between First Avenue and Charles Street
has been chosen as the commencement location because it is the simplest
portion to deal with. In this section, all of the transfers of land
will be from the City to M.O.T.H. In each of the other sections, there
will be transfers in either direction. Recommendations B, C, D and E
establish the Council authority required to close, stop-up and convey
City streets and lanes, and to transfer City-owned titles as necessary
to complete this first section.
We will be reporting back to Council for approval to close, stop-up and
convey additional portions of City road and lane in the future. It is
anticipated that the process will take approximately two years to
complete.
CONCLUSION
It is noted that Council has granted approvals to close and stop-up
portions of roads and lanes within Rupert Park on April 19, 1994 and
July 5, 1994 (see Appendix "A"). In addition, Council on October 17,
1995, accepted the recommendation of the General Manager of Engineering
Services to reject the offer of M.O.T.H. to accept ownership of a 6
acre portion of land, being the Skeena-Cambridge side hill. The
recommendations contained in this report are a natural progression of
those Council decisions, and commences work on the valuable task of
simplifying ownership within the Cassiar Connector.
The benefits to the City, M.O.T.H., and the Land Title Office, will
continue for years after completion of the project. Dealing with
approximately 8 titled parcels, each defined by a modern survey, each
with M.O.T.H. ownership, will allow all users to deal with the Cassiar
Connector without hundreds of hours of work researching 600 multiple
owner titles. Responsibilities will be clearly established. Present
confusion will no longer exist. The benefits of clarity cannot be
understated.
The General Manager of Engineering Services, in consultation with the
Director of Legal Services and the Manager of Real Estate Services,
support approval of Recommendations A, B, C, D and E.
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