One of the great treasures we have here in Kingston is our amazing waterfront. It’s a crucial part of our identity as a city and our quality of life as a community. One of my top priorities as mayor has been to expand public access to the waterfront and create new places, activities and experiences along our shoreline, for both residents and visitors alike. Part of that work is to acquire new waterfront property, and several years ago, an opportunity came up here at the Lemoine Point Farm, just west of the airport and south of the Lemoine Point conservation area.
Mary Fraser, the owner of this property passed away in 2022. In her will, she gave the City an option to purchase the property subject to certain conditions, such as maintaining the rural use of the property. There’s no question the City is very interested in acquiring this property, and we’ve heard from many community members encouraging us to purchase it. The City has been in negotiations with the estate of Mary Fraser over the last two years, but there is currently a dispute over the interpretation of Ms. Fraser’s will.
The estate has had two separate appraisals done for the value of the property, but there is an enormous difference between what these two appraisals say is the value of this land. In fact, the difference is about $20M. While there are some exciting opportunities for how this land could be used, the City is not prepared to overpay for this property or for the land not in line with its future use.
We want to invest in new public access to our waterfront, but we also need to be responsible with tax dollars, particularly when there are so many other critical needs like housing, food security, new roads and parks, and many other areas where we need to allocate funding. I’m hopeful through continued negotiation, mediation and if necessary, resolving this through the courts, that we can find a way forward that makes sense for everyone in our community.