Lantzville to create waterfront park reserve fund

The District of Lantzville appears to be thirsty for a waterfront park.

Lantzville councillors voted unanimously in favour of having district staff create a waterfront park land acquisition reserve fund during a council meeting last week.

According to a staff report, money earned from the sale of district-owned property would go directly into the reserve fund.

Money paid in lieu of parkland dedication would also be directed into the fund as well as all “community amenity financial contributions” specifically identified for waterfront property acquisition.

It’s unclear where or when Lantzville would acquire land for a waterfront park and it’s unclear as to how much money would be placed initially placed in the reserve fund.

A similar fund, known as a park land acquisition reserve fund back in 2003, was established shortly after the district became a municipality according to the staff report. The intention was to have money held by the Regional District of Nanaimo transferred into the fund so that Lantzville could use it to acquire parkland, according to the report, which notes that has since “been accomplished.”

There was very little discussion from councillors on the subject during the meeting. However, Coun. Ian Savage told councillors he was very supportive of the reserve fund idea.

“Every waterfront community I can think of the geographical size of Lantzville has a waterfront park and all we are doing is creating a reserve,” he said.

Lantzville has 4.5 kilometers of waterfront according to the district’s website. There are also multiple public access points to the waterfront.