A $10-million luxury oceanfront retreat — featured last fall in the New York Times — has been sued by Salt Spring Island’s Local Trust Committee (LTC), which alleges the owners of the 31-acre agriculturally zoned property are operating a commercial resort in contravention of the land use bylaw.
The LTC is seeking a declaration from the Supreme Court of B.C. that the contraventions were taking place at Lightwater Cove, located on the island’s south end — and wants a court order halting operations, which it says include rooms, a spa, steam room, hot tub, sauna and swimming pool.
The only uses allowed for properties within the Agriculture 1 (A1) zone, according to the lawsuit, are single-family dwellings and “agriculture, farm buildings and structures.”
In its court filing, lawyers for the LTC also said several retaining walls built at Lightwater Cove were within 15 metres of the natural boundary of the sea — also not permitted under Islands Trust land use bylaws — and it wants the court to order property owners to remove those walls.
In a response filed Aug. 19 on behalf of the Salt Spring Eco Lodging Company Ltd., which says it owns the property, legal representatives argued the “alleged commercial purposes” — oceanfront guesthouses “starting at 420 Canadian dollars per night,” according to the New York Times — were secondary to the company’s agricultural uses at the property operating under the name Lightwater Farm, which include maintaining an orchard of more than 1,000 fruit trees.
Further, according to the response, the guesthouses are bed and breakfast operations on two distinct land parcels comprising the Lightwater property — both of which it said were managed by “permanent residents” of each parcel. Both lie within the Agricultural Land Reserve, according to provincial records.
The response noted extenuating circumstances surrounding the retaining walls, and said the farm “functions as an agricultural hub” for activities including the fruit trees, seed cultivation, a vegetable farm that supplies a farm stand and local businesses, and a flower farm producing “native botanical and medicinal plants for herbal extracts.”
The larger 5.2-acre waterfront parcel, 251 King Rd., was assessed by the province in 2024 as farmland with a land value of $258,625 and buildings valued at more than $9 million, according to BC Assessment.
The smaller waterfront parcel at 301 King Rd., which BC Assessment said was 2.82 acres in size, is also assessed as farmland — with buildings valued at $764,000 and land at just $2,805.
A 2022 press release noted Lightwater Cove opened to its first guests that year, describing itself in part as “an oceanfront sanctuary to delight your senses.” Lightwater Cove’s LinkedIn page describes “a nexus for wellness and rejuvenation” and a “heritage organic farm blossoming with orchards,” listing its industry as “hospitality” with specialties being “wellness, spa, corporate retreats, wellness retreats, intimate weddings, accommodation and elopements.”
Lightwater Cove Farm is absolutely agricultural, with attached bed and breakfast rooms, no different than several other resort and retreat type farms on the island. I have worked at licensed BnBs on Salt Spring that give people packs of oatmeal, where the landlord is absent, and they are not being challenged. Lightwater has a full kitchen with custom made breakfast for guests daily and the owners live right there, beside the kitchen. Monica and Greg are lovely people, have built an extraordinarily beautiful home where they live and have guest rooms, no different than many many other licensed facilities on Salt Spring. The Local Trust should be celebrating this decade of hard work and finally opening to guests instead of taking this action. One assumes all building permits and planning permissions were given. Leave these lovely people alone and solve Salt Spring’s real problems. Lightwater Cove isn’t one of them.