C an't get much closer to paradise than the float-home village at Fisherman's Wharf.
Kayaks nestle up to the dock. Harbour ferries and whale-watching boats slide by. Camera-toting tourists eye the funky art and flowers on the gently bobbing houses and think "this could be me." This is what inspires Albertans to turn hippie and bolt for the coast.
So, why aren't the residents smiling?
And when all this settles, will the floating community exist at all?
Relations between the float home owners and the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority have, well, hit bottom. Residents say their investments are imperiled by an uncommunicative landlord that refuses to grant them the same rights as any other tenant in B.C. The harbour authority argues that they aren't tenants at all, that it is merely protecting Fisherman's Wharf as a community asset.
As the GVHA prepares to embark on a year-long look at the future of Fisherman's Wharf, the two sides aren't even talking. It's at the point where nine of the 33 float homes have For Sale signs.
Part of that is natural turnover, but some say the stress is driving them out.
Float-home owner Jennifer Somerville says residents know they live in heaven and eagerly share it with the tourists who press their noses against the windows. "Nobody's going to feel sorry for us living down here, and why should they?"
But unregulated, unpredictable rent increases, the uncertainty of moorage agreements and the GVHA's attitude - it won't even let them put benches or a Block Watch sign on the dock - all have owners fearing for the future.
"What is it that we're doing so wrong?" Somerville asks. If they were drinking beer, running naked on the docks, disgracing the city, she could understand the chilliness, but the homeowners see themselves as good ambassadors.
"We figure we're assets and the harbour authority treats us like we're a liability."
It all goes back to 2002, when the non-profit GVHA took over Fisherman's Wharf - along with Ogden Point, the Inner Harbour docks and the Causeway.
"We saw the potential of the site to be a fantastic eclectic marine facility that supports the working harbour, tourism industry and residents alike," said a statement from the authority.
"In order to achieve this vision, GVHA invested a significant amount to upgrade the facility."
It replaced the pilings on the three fingers where the float homes are moored in 2007, then added sewer and water lines, upgraded the electrical services and added new decking to the floats. It says it has invested more than $3.2 million in the past 10 years.
The harbour authority also altered what it called unsustainable moorage rates that had been "substantially subsidized" by Transport Canada for years. Rates went up by an average of 11 per cent a year between 2002 and 2010, though that varied from house to house because of a change in the way rates were calculated.
Residents dispute the contention that they're paying market rates, say they're actually being priced out. When Janice Mayfield bought in 2007, her moorage was $551, as much as she could afford. Now it's $915.
That's a typical moorage rate, residents say. There's also a $100 "licence fee." Electricity and heat are extra. That's on top of mortgages for homes that typically sell for roughly $300,000. Parking is $75 a month. No mailbox or postal code. They pay property tax, without the mitigating effect of the homeowner's grant.
"All that is fine," says homeowner Jill Stainforth. "All that is what we signed on for."
What scares her is the uncertainty. Moorage agreements leave no guarantee that the float homes won't be booted out with nowhere to go on short notice. No way to know how much the rent will rise until your new agreement arrives each spring.
The float-home owners asked to be given the same rights as residents of mobile home parks, but the Residential Tenancy Association ruled against them. When they applied for a judicial review of that ruling, dialogue with the harbour authority screeched to a halt.
The GVHA statement said the authority plans to begin a yearlong Fisherman's Wharf vision and marina development strategy within the next month: "We are looking forward to getting input into the strategy from our customers and stakeholders, including the float home owners. Until the judicial review and the strategy are complete, GVHA is not able to come to a conclusion about the float homes."
Which leaves their future of the float home village not so much on the water as up in the air.
