TRCA to launch investigation into a family's bid to re-purchase expropriated land

After their mother's death in May, the conservation authority offered a continued lease agreement to family, but they don't want to become rental tenants.

Thestar.com
Aug. 1, 2017
By Victoria Gibson

A complicated patchwork of regulations governs the land at 14 Scarborough Pickering Townline, and untangling it falls on a review taking place after next week's meeting of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.

The last tenant of the home, which sits on expropriated land that's transferred ownership several times, was Joyce Anna Scott. After her death in May, the conservation authority offered a continued lease agreement to her family - but if they don't want to become rental tenants, they have to leave the house by Sept. 1.

Now, Joyce's daughters are picking up their mother's crusade to re-purchase the house, and they'll make a presentation to the conservation authority next week.

In response, the conservation authority will launch an investigation, Associate Director Rick Sikorski said. But decisions aren't theirs alone.

"From TRCA's perspective, the property in question is TRCA owned," Sikorski said. But the conservation authority is bound by other contracts.

When the land was transferred to them in 2004 as part of a "land holding agreement," the province retained an option to purchase and a first right of refusal, or exclusive rights to enter business agreements before a third-party.

"Even though we own it, we are not free to do whatever we want with it," Sikorski said.

In 2012, the land's ownership became even more complex. The property was included within the boundaries of the proposed Rouge National Urban Park. According to a memorandum of agreement on the project, land included within the park's boundaries would be transferred to the federal government.