The Whiffin Spit Christmas Tree

When I first came to Sooke to look at the house I eventually bought, I took a walk out Whiffin Spit. I knew nothing about the community that would become my home and my chosen place to start a family. I didn’t even know what Whiffin Spit was, I was just driving around exploring and found this cool seaside park with a light at the end of the path. It was just after Christmas, and as I meandered along the path, in addition to the many friendly people I saw and lots of dogs, there it was, this tree.

A lone Sitka Spruce, perched somewhat precariously on this exposed, windswept, salty spit of land. It had been decorated with all sorts of different ornaments. It was clear to me immediately that it was something special, and the eclectic array of ornamentations amused me. The salmon flashers and other bits of maritime and fishing-related items hung from its boughs and other home-made items made me think “How West Coast is this?!” I’ve enjoyed visiting the tree every year since and today went down to the spit to snap a few pictures for you.

With everything from plain old Christmas balls to driftwood, this is a real display of Island culture and I was amazed once again at the variety. There were many cute kids’ crafts on the tree, and also a number of touching tributes to lost family members, both human and canine, which is fitting as the Spit is a favourite for both to stroll.

I think my favourites are the ornaments fashioned from fishing gear, floats, and crab trap bait containers:

So, who decorates the tree every year? Well of course, it’s a public park, so anyone is welcome. But there is a group of local elves who has been taking care of the decorating and un-decorating of the tree since 1995. Read the interesting story, and learn about how you can help, here.

A bit of a bonus to my stroll down on the Spit today were the waves. They were big. I used to live very near the Spit so I know that’s not terribly uncommon in the winter, but it was a lot of fun to watch, and to photograph. The sun even poked its way through the clouds for a while and it looked spectacular. Here’s my favourite of the wave pictures. See more on Facebook.

The weather forecast isn’t great for Christmas, but I hope you’ve had a chance to stroll by the Tree in the days leading up – we’ve sure had spectacular weather for December. But if you haven’t, make sure you head down when we get a break in the weather like we had this afternoon! Below are all the pictures I took of the tree today. Merry Christmas, Sooke (and beyond)!

Here’s an opportunity for inexpensive living in a family-friendly park close to transit, schools, and all amenities in Sooke! This nicely updated, clean and tidy 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 960 sqft manufactured home is just waiting for somebody to move right in! It’s wheelchair accessible and features many updates. Have a look at http://TimAyres.ca/97 for more information, pictures, or to book your personal tour!

Photo credit: sometimes_anna on Flickr

The Capital Regional District (CRD), along with non-profit The Land Conservancy (TLC) has agreed to buy up more than 2300 hectares (nearly 5700 acres) of land that was slated to go up for sale today. The land, belonging to Western Forest Products (WFP) has been the subject of much controversy in our area since the provincial government allowed WFP to remove its private lands from a tree-farm license (TFL) in 2007.

The lands being purchased include Sandcut Beach, the Jordan River surfing beach and townsite, and lands surrounding the Sooke River near Sooke Potholes Park.

While some of the land on the interior side of the highway may be sold off to help finance this purchase, most of it will be dedicated as park. One exciting feature of this deal is that the land acquired near the Potholes completes the Sea-to-Sea Green-Blue Belt, which, besides having the distinction of being the most awkwardly-named park reserve/network on the Island, will now stretch all the way from the Sooke Basin to Saanich Inlet.

The land deal is worth nearly $19 million, most of which is coming from the CRD’s parkland acquisition fund, and will be paid over 3 years. The rest of the money will come from TLC, and hopefully, the provincial government, who have been under fire since the land was released from the TFL three years ago. Many see it as an opportunity for the province to right a wrong that caused great controversy.

And speaking of the parkland acquisition fund… this is part of your yearly property taxes. Since it was established in 2000, it has been $10 per household per year, which has been well used in my opinion, protecting  nearly 3000 hectares of land at a value of nearly $31 million. Your contribution to the fund will be going up this year by $2, and will eventually rise to $20 per year, allowing the CRD to purchase lands such as the Jordan River WFP parcels for everyone’s use and enjoyment, forever. I’d happily pay $50 or even $100 per year to pad this fund and enable the special areas in our region to be protected. It’s a great example of taxpayer money going into something we all benefit from.

The deal is still tentative, but is slated to close in August. I’m looking forward to the CRD’s plan and longterm vision for these newly acquired lands.

What’s your take on this announcement? Good, bad, otherwise? State your opinion, but be nice to one another!

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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As I watched the sun rising over the back fence and into my home office, I was reminded why I love this season so much.  The crisp, cool air, a bright blue sky, and the golden hue of the morning sun on the colourful autumn leaves prompted me to bundle up and shoot a few photos on a walk along the spectacular Sooke Harbour boardwalk.

Parking the car at the lot on Murray Road, I walked up Murray towards Sooke Road to capture some of the leaves in the trees. I had noticed this the last sunny day we had and had meant to get back there to capture it. Unfortunately the wind over the past few days has pretty much stripped the trees, but they still look pretty on the ground.

Walking down the hill towards the Rotary Pier/boardwalk access, I snapped a few photos of the sun shining through the leaves, and reflecting off the harbour.

I love looking at this house whenever I head out on the boardwalk.

The pier and boardwalk are framed perfectly by the trees

Just because it isn’t summer doesn’t mean you can’t toss a trap in the water for crab. It was deserted on the often-busy pier, save for this couple.

There were lots of leaves left on the trees along the water. The harbour was so still, it was like a mirror, reflecting the trees. Gorgeous!

The harbour boardwalk is a real gem, we’re lucky to have it. It goes from the bottom of Murray Road all the way to Ed Macgregor Park, where it switch-backs gently across the slope offering easy access to and from the water.

I hope you enjoyed the photos! If you’d like to see the whole set, you can view it on Flickr.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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A rezoning sign has re-appeared at Seaview as of yesterday.

I received a phone call yesterday from one of the residents in the Seaview Mobile Home Park, who, along with his neighbours, had been served eviction notice by landlord Jeff Zigay last fall. It seems that what I was afraid of has come to pass: their challenge of the landlord’s eviction notice has failed, and the eviction notice for October 31st, 2009 has been upheld.

Despite Sooke Council adopting a new mobile home park redevelopment policy, Jeff Zigay’s lawyer has found a loophole in either the new policy, or the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act.

My source in the park said that Zigay’s lawyer mentioned that Mr. Zigay intends to live in the mobile home park in one of the cabins on the property and operate a home-based landscaping business, for which he needs vacant possession of his land. To me, this sounds like a loophole in the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act, rather than Sooke’s Mobile Home Park Redevelopment Policy. It appears similar to the Residential Tenancy Act, which allows for eviction of tenants if the landlord is to undertake major upgrades or renovations, or to need vacant possession of the property for personal use. Vancouver Blogger Miss604 has been covering one such situation in the West End of Vancouver.

The residents of this park need help. If you know anyone who has experience in these matters, please contact me, and I’ll get you in touch with one of the park residents. If you’re a news media person, please do the same.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Sooke Municipal Hall

An updated on the situation I posted about last week:

Last night, at the Sooke Council Chambers, the owners of the not-so-mobile homes in Sooke’s Seaview Trailer Park breathed a sigh of relief as Sooke Council unanimously passed the proposed policy on mobile home park redevelopments.

The policy protects mobile home owners by requiring the owner of the park to either compensate the owners for the fair market value of their homes or relocate the home to another pad before redevelopment will be permitted.

The Council also gave a legal opinion that the eviction notice served to the owners was in fact illegal (probably due to the fact that it stated that all municipal approvals were in place for redevelopment, which was untrue).

One park resident has been in e-mail contact with me and tells me that the owners have a court date in November to challenge the eviction notice. Stay tuned for updates.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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