Cabot condos can continue
Court rejects bid to halt further development
A bid to halt the development of nine condominiums on 6.2 acres of land owned by Cabot Links Enterprises ULC in Inverness has been rejected by a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge.
Justice Patrick Murray has ruled that applicant Neal Livingston failed to show there was a clear intention to dedicate the land in question for public use.
“I therefore find that the recreational use of Inverness beach, does not support or find an inference that this piece of land consisting of six acres was dedicated to the public,” Murray said in a decision released Tuesday.
The decision comes after a five-day hearing in Port Hawkesbury in April.
Livingston argued that the lands proposed for development have long been dedicated and accepted for public use. Cabot argued it purchased the land in 2011 in good faith from a private owner (Cape Bald Packers Ltd. — a fish processing company), and the land was rezoned, through a public process, that allowed the development of a premier golf course.
The golf course sits atop of a former coal mine that closed in 1958 and the land was turned over to the former town of Inverness. The town surrendered its incorporation in 1968 and the town deeded the property to the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. The following year, the legion deeded the property to the Inverness Development Association.
In ceding the property to the association, the legion included a passage noting that the former town council had passed a resolution declaring it was passing the property “with the purpose and intent that the lands be used and developed for the benefit of the citizens of the Town of Inverness.”
The hearing heard from several witnesses who described picnic tables and park benches going back to the 1950s. Some of the witnesses described the property as being used for years for recreation, parking and beach access.
Joe O’Connor, former municipal engineer for Inverness County, testified, on behalf of Cabot, that the municipality never designated the area as a public park nor had it been accepted as such by the public, according to the judge’s decision.
Cabot president Ben Cowan-Dewar testified the company does not impede public access to the beach and that it has invested in public access including the creation of a pedestrian link to the beach.
In his decision, Murray noted that the use of the land, as described by Livingston and his witnesses, was largely for access to the beach and many believed there never a notion the land represented a public park.
Murray said much of the infrastructure on the site, such as picnic tables, were never maintained and allowed to fall into disrepair which is a telling sign in terms of whether the site was considered a public park.
“I find the evidence does not show a clear intention to dedicate this parcel of six acres for public use. The primary use through the years was for parking to access the beach,” said Murray.