Eaglecrest - More Details Released

The Eaglecrest Golf Course was a major topic at the Qualicum Beach council meeting on September 17, 2025. At the meeting, council passed first and second reading of resolutions to amend the zoning and Official Community Plan for portions of the Eaglecrest Golf Course lands. The actual amendments are complex as they deal with a number of properties in Eaglecrest, as well as a number of proposed uses. Basically, a large amount of the land in Eaglecrest that is currently zoned for park and recreation use is being rezoned for residential, commercial and institutional use with increased density on the land. To achieve the anticipated densities, the heights of buildings that will be allowed on the various properties range from 11 metres for some residential zones to 12.75 metres and 17.5 metres for multi-family and institutional use. There was discussion by council regarding the number of storeys that could be built within the allowed heights. Some on council were uncomfortable with the fact that 6 storeys could be accommodated by 17.5 metres, however, council seemed to be satisfied with 5 storeys. Luke Sales, Director of Planning, noted that the public is passionate about height, but that the height will allow the Town to retain more of the land as parkland and recommended not reducing the height but rather to refine through design. In any event, the permitted heights were not reduced. The particular details of the zoning and OPC amendments are of far too much detail to set out in this article. Readers should view the actual council meeting for full information on the proposed changes. A link to the You Tube video is given at the end of the article.

In conjunction with the passage of first and second reading of the bylaws amending the zoning and the OCP, Council also directed staff to schedule a public hearing for 2 PM on October 6. Pursuant to provincial legislation, a public hearing is required for amendments to the OCP and, in some cases, to zoning. As you may be aware, earlier news releases announcing the conditional purchase of the Eaglecrest Golf Course mentioned public engagement opportunities - an open house on September 9 and a public hearing on October 6. I was under the impression that the October 6 public hearing announced in the news release was to provide the public with an opportunity to provide comments on the purchase of the golf course (ie., are you for or against it). This may not be the case since the Town recently posted two notices of public hearing for October 6, one regarding the zoning amendments and the second regarding amendments to the OCP, stating that the public is invited to speak on the proposed bylaw amendments. There is no indication that this public hearing will provide be an opportunity to speak about the actual purchase of the golf course. Related to this is a posting on the Eaglecrest Project page of the Town's website. I refer you to the "Reading Room" section and the reference to the October 6 Public Hearing Memo. The memo is the background information on the zoning and OCP amendments that received first and second reading at the September 17 council meeting. I may be incorrect, but my read of this is that the reason for the meeting is the amendments to the zoning and the OCP, not the purchase of the golf course.

The following are some observations and thoughts about the purchase of the golf course lands and was written to prompt discussion about the purchase. It was written shortly after attending the September 17 meeting and before I realized, perhaps mistakenly, that the October 6 public hearing may be limited to the zoning and OCP amendments.

Mr. Sales opened the September 17 meeting by stating that the zoning and OCP amendments are not the plan for the redevelopment of Eaglecrest and that the actual plan will be further refined through discussions with Council and public input. Rather, he said, the amendments are part of the due diligence being conducted by the Town to ensure that the transaction (presumably, the initial purchase as well as the ultimate redevelopment) is in the public's interest.

At one point in the meeting, it was disclosed that the agreement with the vendor for the purchase of the Eaglecrest lands is conditional upon the Town amending the zoning and the OCP for the lands. It is not unusual for an agreement to purchase property to contain a condition or subject. Many of you may be familiar with a subject to financing clause when purchasing a new home. Such a clause is for the purchaser's benefit and would let him or her "off the hook" if financing could not be obtained. Another condition that is sometimes in purchase agreements is one which only commits the purchaser to complete the purchase if the proposed property can be rezoned. Such a condition would be for the benefit of the purchaser, not the vendor, since it would release the purchaser from the agreement if the property was not, or could not be, rezoned. The condition in the Eaglecrest agreement regarding zoning and OPC amendments requires clarification. Did the vendor or the Town insist on this condition in the agreement? For whose benefit is it? There is a brief reference in the agenda materials for the September 17 meeting that the zoning and OCP will revert back to the original zoning and OCP designations in the event the purchase does not proceed. Presumably, this is to prevent the vendor from utilizing the amendments to develop the lands itself at a later date.

Apparently, there is a covenant relating to a portion of the lands. This was mentioned briefly at the Open House and at the council meeting and seems to be public knowledge, although not to me. There was little information about the covenant provided at either the Open House or the council meeting other than it seems to be in favour of the Oceanside Strata, it may or may not be enforceable and it may require that portions of the lands will continue to be used for golf. I do not know if the covenant will have an impact on the Town's decision to purchase the lands or on the use to which some of the land maybe put in the future or if, in fact, it is of any importance at all. The questions surrounding the covenant could be easily answered by the release of information by the Town.

It became apparent at the Open House and the September 17 council meeting that consultants are playing a large role in the transaction. This may be a good thing as the Town staff cannot be expected to have the expertise on all facets of the transaction. However, I believe that the public is entitled to information about the consultants being retained, the scope of their retainer and their fees. As I understand, some consultants may have been retained specifically for the Eaglecrest transaction while others may have had contracts for certain work that has now been extended/increased to include aspects of the Eaglecrest purchase. For example, Modus Planning was consulting on "Ways to Achieve Attainable Housing" pursuant to an RFP. Modus Planning led the Open House, at which it appeared that they had a significant hand in consulting on the Eaglecrest transaction without, as I understand, a separate RFP being issued. Related to this, at the September 17 meeting Councillor Harrison asked about the impact of increased density in Eaglecrest on traffic and was advised that the Town had started a process with a consultant to provide an analysis. There is no indication that an RFP had been issued for a traffic study. The bottom line is that consultant's fees will be part of the cost of this transaction and should be disclosed to the public.

The anticipated cost of the proposed transaction was not disclosed at the council meeting. In addition to the purchase price of $8.5 million for the land, there will be additional costs required to complete the purchase, to rehabilitate portions of the property (in particular, the clubhouse), and to actually develop the lands. The total cost of all of these items is important as only when this amount is known, will the Town be able to determine how much of the land (and its density) will have to be sold to finance the transaction. Mr. Sales pointed out at the council meeting that the money received by the Town will significantly exceed the Town's financial requirements for the transaction if all of the land is developed to the maximum use and density permitted by the zoning and OCP amendments. The critical question is: how much money is required? This information is not readily available. Some costs have been mentioned, such as the $8.5 million purchase price, an estimate of $5 million for the roundabout, and $2.5 million for upgrading of the golf course for a total of $15.8 million. Added to this will be the costs of the due diligence and the closing costs (such as consultant's fees, legal fees, closing adjustments with the vendor, Property Transfer Tax) that will likely add in excess of $500,000. Whether the purchase price requires payment of GST (or PST if chattels are included) is a question for the accountants to answer. Added to this will be the cost of rehabilitating the golf clubhouse and maintenance shed. As an aside, the Town's CAO noted that council will have to decide what to fund, how to fund it and referred to drainage issues identified at Eaglecrest, $900,000 in asbestos pipe, $1.7 million storm main replacement beyond the purchase price. It is not clear if the foregoing are required as a result of the Eaglecrest purchase or whether they are merely other projects that the Town needs to complete. Whatever they may be, it all adds up to a lot of money.

The total cost of the project (the actual purchase as well as all of costs associated with the redevelopment of the lands including such things as the roundabout and contingencies for unknown surprises) must be determined by Council to properly assess the transaction. Against this, council must determine the amount of money it will receive from developing the lands (either by itself or in conjunction with third parties) that are not being set aside for park and recreation uses. At the council meeting, Councillor Harrison asked Mr. Sales when Council would have access to this information. Mr. Sales advised that some of this information will be available by October 1; however, he was unsure of the date for receipt of information for which a consultant was required. As to when, or if, any of this information will be released to the public, it appears that what council decides to release, and when, will be at council's discretion. Whether relevant information will be available to the public prior to the Public Hearing is not known. In this regard, the notice of the public hearing indicated that "proposal materials" will be available online or at City Hall two weeks prior to the Public Hearing. The Public Hearing is set for October 6 so these materials should be available on September 22. It is unclear whether the proposal materials will provide full information given Mr. Sales' comments on when Council may expect to receive information regarding costs etc.. Regardless, anyone with an interest in this transaction is encouraged to get the proposal materials and assess the transaction so that comments, for or against, can be provided to Council at the Public Hearing. I should point out that I attended both sessions of the Open House and sat through the September 17 council meeting. To date, this is the full extent of presentations to the public on the purchase of the lands. Notwithstanding my attendance at all of these meetings, I do not feel sufficiently informed about the transaction to either support it or oppose it and hope that the proposal materials provide further and complete information to assist me.

As a final note, it was decided at the September 17 council meeting to relocate the Public Hearing on October 6th at 2 pm to the Civic Centre in anticipation of a large turnout. It appears that there will be no livestreaming of the meeting, however, the Town is looking into recording the meeting for viewing at a later date.

James Noel

September 19, 2025

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More info

View the Council Meeting on You Tube (Eaglecrest segment begins around the 53 minute mark)