If the township plans to sell a piece of surplus land to a Paradise Lake homeowner, it must ensure there’s a right of way for the neighbouring property, says the owner of that site.
George McKay of 66 Willow Way addressed Wellesley council Monday night during a discussion of a proposal to sell an unopened road allowance, amounting to some 400 square feet, to his neighbour, Neil Cable of 57 Willow Way.
Cable, who also spoke, said he, too, wants to ensure that McKay continues to have access to the lake.
As the prospective purchaser, Neil Cable must complete a title search to find out which properties have a right to access the lake through the piece of land. Currently, McKay has legal access to the water through the township property, and he wants to ensure that’s the case if the land changes hands.
“We simply would like to see that before the land gets sold that our access to the lake be continued and guaranteed,” said McKay. “One way would be to leave Willow Way the way it is, as a public road. The second method would be to have a right of way registered in our favour on that land prior to the township selling it to Mr. Cable and the third would be for Mr. Cable to provide an alternate right of way.”
He added that a title search would be an unnecessary expense for Cable, who has already incurred costs, as the two owners are the only ones to McKay’s knowledge who use the right of way.
Cable had previously installed a gate on the property with the majority of the gate, unbeknownst to him at the time, on the township land. Now he hopes to purchase the land, and has been in talks with township planners for about a year on the issue.
Cable told councillors that McKay’s rights to access the property would not be jeopardized by the land purchase.
“This has been kind of an ongoing issue in the sense that the property at 66 [Willow Way] which belongs to Blair and Wendy McKay, when I sold them that property I gave them the right of way across that property. I have no intention of taking that right of way away,” he said.
Cable said he made a mistake in building part of his gate and a pillar on township property, an oversight on his part that he hopes to rectify with the purchase. He would also be prepared to pick up the required expenses as well as some of those incurred by the township to close the deal.
Councillors made no decision on the request, awaiting a report from planning staff, including an appraisal and title search, expected at a later date.
