Act BEFORE repealed by 2003-45-32, effective May 29, 2003 (Royal Assent).
Riverbank Protection Act
[RSBC 1996] CHAPTER 408
Definitions
1 In this Act:
"cost", in relation to work under this Act, includes expenditures for the purposes in section 16;
"council" means the council of a municipality;
"engineer" means the chief engineer or any civil engineer specially appointed by the Minister of Transportation and Highways for this Act;
"execute" has the meaning that is appropriate to describe the performance of the particular works referred to in the context;
"owner"
(a) means the person for the time being registered as the owner of land in the land title office for the district in which the land is located,
(b) for land held under grant from the government of Canada or British Columbia, but which is not registered in a land title office, means the beneficial owner, and
(c) for land owned by the government includes the government and any purchaser, lessee or other person holding any interest in that land from the government;
"protection work" and "work" include a dike, dam, breakwater and other protection to prevent the encroachment of rivers on their banks, and include diversion in whole or in part of a river and the removal of obstructions from a river bed;
"river" includes all streams, lakes, creeks and estuaries, and all channels, ravines, gulches and watercourses, natural or artificial, tidal or otherwise, in which water flows constantly, intermittently or at any time, whether salt or fresh.
Lieutenant Governor in Council may require report
2 On application by the owners, supported by a majority in interest of the owners, if it appears to the Lieutenant Governor in Council necessary in the public interest that protection work be executed to prevent the encroachment of a river on its banks, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may direct the engineer to prepare a report under this Act.
Contents of report of engineer
3 The engineer must make all necessary inquiries, examinations and surveys, and must prepare a report in duplicate containing the following:
(a) a plan showing the location of the proposed work, and the land which in the engineer's opinion would benefit;
(b) general plans and specifications of the proposed work;
(c) an estimate of the cost of the proposed work;
(d) a scheme of assessment recommended by the engineer as just and equitable for the apportionment of the cost, showing
(i) the proportion to be borne by the government, either as owner of land to be benefited or generally in the public interest,
(ii) the proportion to be borne by a municipality, either as owner of land to be benefited or generally in the interest of the municipality, and
(iii) the proportion to be borne by the owners of the land to be benefited;
(e) an assessment roll on the basis of the scheme recommended, setting out
(i) each parcel of land to be assessed and which is separately owned,
(ii) the name and address of each owner and the portion of the cost to be assessed against each parcel,
(iii) the portion to be borne by the government,
(iv) the portion to be borne generally by a municipality apart from its ownership of land to be benefited, and
(v) the intended manner and time of payment of the cost of the work;
(f) any other matters necessary to a complete understanding of the project.
Assessment according to benefit
4 If the engineer believes that the benefit from the proposed work is not substantially a uniform benefit, the engineer must, by dividing the land into various classes, or otherwise, assess it according to the benefit to be derived.
Approvals for report
5 (1) If the report, as prepared or amended by the engineer, is approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council and by resolution of the municipal council of each municipality intended to be assessed generally, the engineer must promptly, by notice in writing, call a meeting of the owners to consider whether or not the protection work as detailed in the report, is to be executed under this Act.
(2) The engineer must submit his or her report to the meeting.
(3) The notice must state the time, place and object of the meeting, and may be served either by personal delivery or by mail to the address shown on the assessment roll, at least 10 days before the meeting.
Voting at meeting
6 (1) Questions at the meeting must be determined by the majority in interest of the owners voting according to the assessments against the land represented by those owners as shown on the assessment roll contained in the report of the engineer, and not by the number of owners voting.
(2) Every owner may vote at the meeting either in person or by proxy.
(3) An owner may, by instrument in writing filed with the engineer, appoint any person a proxy to represent the owner at the meeting.
Procedure at meeting
7 (1) The owners may appoint a chair and a secretary for the meeting.
(2) The owners may determine that
(a) the protection work be executed as detailed in the report,
(b) the report be returned to the engineer for amendment as the owners at the meeting or any adjournment may specify, or
(c) no further steps be taken toward executing the proposed work.
(3) If the owners determine that the report be returned to the engineer for amendment, the meeting must be adjourned.
(4) If the Lieutenant Governor in Council and each municipal council whose approval is required by section 5 approve of the proposed amendment, the engineer must prepare an amended report and submit it to the adjourned meeting of the owners.
Deposit of approved report in land title office
8 (1) If the report, as originally prepared or as amended, is approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, by each municipal council required to do so and by the owners, the engineer must
(a) certify the report in duplicate as approved under this Act, and
(b) deposit one duplicate original report in the land title office for the district where the land shown on the assessment roll is located.
(2) The engineer must send a copy of the report to the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations.
Notice of deposit of report
9 (1) Within 5 days after the date of the deposit of the report in the land title office, the engineer must notify the owners of its deposit.
(2) The notice must advise that an owner who is dissatisfied with the assessment roll contained in the report may appeal by serving written notice of the owner's intention to appeal on the engineer within 14 days after the deposit of the report.
(3) The notice given by the engineer under this section must also provide an address for delivery of notices of appeal.
Right of appeal and procedure
10 (1) An owner who is dissatisfied with the assessment roll contained in the report, either as it affects the owner's land or land owned by any other person, may appeal to the Supreme Court.
(2) Within 14 days after the deposit of the report in the land title office, the owner must serve the engineer, the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations and all other interested parties, including any municipality that may be affected by the appeal, with a written notice of the owner's intention to appeal to the court, stating the grounds of the appeal, and must at the same time apply to the court to set a day for hearing the appeal.
(3) The court must set the day and place for the hearing of the appeal, notice of which must be given in writing by the owner to the interested parties and to such other persons interested as the court may direct.
(4) At the time and place set, the court must hear the appeal and the evidence given on oath in a summary manner, and may take a view, and may adjourn the hearing and defer judgment as the court believes advisable.
(5) The appeal must be determined within 60 days from the date set for its hearing.
(6) On the hearing of the appeal, the engineer must produce the assessment roll, the report and all papers and documents in the engineer's possession in any way affecting the matter in question.
(7) The court may amend the assessment roll as seems right and just.
(8) No costs of appeal are to be allowed to any party.
Execution of protection work
11 (1) On deposit of the approved report in the land title office, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may proceed with execution of the proposed work.
(2) The execution must not be delayed because of an appeal under section 10 but must proceed despite appeal.
(3) All protection work executed under this Act must be executed as public works within the meaning of the Ministry of Transportation and Highways Act and, subject to this Act, all the provisions of that Act apply in respect of the work executed under this Act.
Payment from consolidated revenue fund
12 All expenses necessarily incurred by the engineer in connection with the preparation and deposit of a report under this Act may be paid out of the consolidated revenue fund.
Revision of roll after work executed
13 (1) After the protection works have been executed and the appeal, if any, has been determined by the court, the engineer must revise the assessment roll wherever necessary to assess the respective owners and any municipality on the basis of the actual cost of the work.
(2) The revised assessment roll must be deposited in the land title office in which the report is deposited as an amendment to the report, and must be filed with the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations.
(3) If the actual cost conforms with the estimate and there is no revision of the assessment roll either by the engineer or by an amendment by the court on appeal, the engineer must deposit and file a confirmation of the roll.
Registration of charge in favour of the government
14 (1) The report when deposited must be registered by the registrar as a first charge in favour of the government on each parcel of land separately owned, as shown on the plan and mentioned in the assessment roll, to the extent of all taxes that may be levied under the authority of this Act on each parcel of land.
(2) No fee is payable for registration under this section.
Validity of assessment roll
15 (1) The assessment roll, as amended if at all by the engineer under this section, is binding on the respective land, municipalities and owners, and on all parties concerned, according to its terms, despite any error or omission in it, or any defect in the proceedings either before or after the deposit of the report.
(2) The engineer may at any time within 3 months after the date of the deposit of the report in the land title office, either of the engineer's own motion or on the application of any party interested, correct any clerical error or omission made in the preparation of the assessment roll.
Levy of taxes
16 (1) After the report or the confirmation has been filed with the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations under section 13 and on instructions from the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations, any collector may levy taxes from time to time on the owners and municipalities assessed under this Act, based on and in accordance with the assessments contained in the assessment roll, to raise money for the cost of the works and in addition to pay the following:
(a) all expenses necessarily incurred by the engineer;
(b) all reasonable sums for the remuneration of the engineer and persons employed by the engineer;
(c) the annual interest, at a rate prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, on all unrepaid money expended under this Act for any portion of the cost to be borne other than by the government.
(2) The collector must prepare a statement showing the following:
(a) the purposes for which he or she is instructed to raise money under this section;
(b) the taxes levied on each parcel of land separately owned;
(c) the owners;
(d) the taxes levied generally on any municipality;
(e) the date on which the taxes are due and payable.
(3) The statement must be signed in duplicate by the collector, and one duplicate original must be deposited in the land title office.
(4) The date of the levy is the date of deposit of the statement.
(5) Any error or omission made in the preparation of the statement may be corrected by the collector or any other person authorized by the Minister of Finance and Corporate Relations.
(6) All corrections must be made on the statement deposited in the land title office, in red ink, with the date on which they are made, and signed by the person making them.
Recovery of tax levied against municipality
17 (1) Tax levied under this Act against a municipality for the assessment of the municipality generally is a binding charge against the municipality, and is recoverable as a debt due to the government in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) All other taxes levied under this Act are payable as debts due to the government in the amounts set out in the statement deposited by the collector.
(3) Until paid, the amounts referred to in subsection (2) constitute a charge against the parcels of land against which they are levied.
(4) The provisions of the Taxation (Rural Area) Act for collection and recovery of taxes and the proceedings on default of payment apply to the taxes referred to in this section, even if the land is located within a municipality.
(5) In the case of land in the name of the government, the amounts assessed and taxes levied under this Act are a charge against the land before and after the issue of the Crown grant.
(6) If the land referred to in subsection (5) is held under purchase, lease or otherwise, the taxes must be paid by the purchaser, lessee or other person interested in the land.
(7) All taxes due under this Act bear interest from the time they become payable at a rate prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.
(8) The interest payable under subsection (7) forms part of and is collectable in the same manner as the tax.