Lily Point being actively marketed

By Meg Olson

Real estate agents peddling the Lily Point properties are painting a different picture of the area than the golf course and subdivision once imagined, and a local group is hoping that picture will develop into a park.

On the back page of the National Post, Premier Canadian Properties is advertising “Point Roberts Estate,” the western 37 acres of the now defunct Lily Point Estates, for $2.95 million. Rather than touting the property’s development potential, the ad suggests it would make “an ideal private estate” or “it could be used as a university/park facility.” Realtor Irv Rudd said future subdivision development of the property, previously owned by Peter Butler and Joseph Smith and now in trust, were not being ruled out, but the property was being marketed for its recreational possibilities. “It’s an option and we decided to market it that way,” he said.

Re/Max agent Brenda Jenkins is facilitating the sale of the property for an informal coalition of all the families who owned the original 436 acres of the Lily Point development, now listed at $15 million on Jenkin’s website. With permits for the planned development now expired, Jenkins said owners were open to any future uses of the land. “They’re motivated to sell it and they’ll work with any potential buyer,” she said. “They’re a good group of people to work with.”

Taxpayers association president Michael Rosser said his association board was continuing to follow overwhelming direction from their general membership to secure Lily Point for public use, and is optimistic they can bring the property owners a package they will accept.

Rosser said they were approaching several land trust and conservancy organizations for financial support. “What we’re attempting to do is at least get commitment in principle from several funding sources,” he said. “With that commitment we can go to the voters to ask them to support creation of the park through a bond issue. Within our association there is a very strong sense people are willing to pay to buy it.”

Rosser said they envisioned Lily Point becoming a state park. “The state takes a lot out of Point Roberts and really puts very little into it,” he said. “We have some reasonable grounds to ask the state to make it a park.” Rosser added the state had an opportunity with Lily Point to protect for public use one of the largest chunks of undeveloped shoreline in the state. “There is so little access to Washington’s shoreline,” he said.

Beyond the recreational opportunities offered by the property, Rosser said there were environmental and national heritage resources to be protected, from bald eagle nesting sites to sites of significance to Native Americans. Rosser said members of the Lummi Nation contacted him and indicated they would work with his association to have Lily Point preserved. “They were very interested and cooperative,” he said.

Rosser said association board members hoped to start the new year meeting with interested parties and getting some local fundraising efforts underway. “We just need to get some momentum,” he said. “Then we have the chance to get all the parties on board and make it a go.”