Stew Young’s
Record as Mayor
Bear Mountain · 2016–2024

Infrastructure first.
Broken promises later.

Young’s council helped finance the road to Bear Mountain on the promise that developers would pay. Years after construction, the City sued Ecoasis over a missed repayment instalment. Public access to nearby trails also became a dispute. The next council inherited the work of collecting money and securing access.

Updated September 30, 2026

The City borrowed to get development moving.

In 2016, Langford planned to borrow up to $5 million to build the Bear Mountain Parkway extension. The finance report1 describes a road from the Leigh Road interchange to the village, requested by owners of development land in Bear Mountain and South Skirt Mountain.

The proposed financing spread debt servicing over 15 years, recovered through parcel taxes on benefiting properties. Owners would cover costs above $5 million. Staff said general taxpayers would not bear those costs. The City would arrange construction and borrowing, with recovery from the benefiting landowners.

At the December 2016 groundbreaking, Goldstream News Gazette reported3 that work had started that October. The planned 3.3-kilometre connection would link the resort area to Leigh Road. Young joined the event celebrating infrastructure whose payment depended on developer commitments.

The City’s April 2024 finance report2 confirms council adopted the borrowing bylaws in 2016 and the first phase opened in 2018. Parcel-tax recovery followed in 2019. By 2024, staff were seeking a higher parcel-tax rate to cover increased interest and project costs.

The road came before full repayment.

The Westshore’s March 2024 account of the City’s civil claim4 traces Ecoasis’s obligation to a September 2016 agreement. The developer’s contribution was $3.07 million. Some was covered through development-cost-charge credits; a dispute remained over the unpaid balance.

In February 2023, Langford and Ecoasis agreed to a repayment plan for about $1.89 million. The City alleged Ecoasis paid $390,000 but missed a $300,000 instalment due December 31, 2023. In March 2024, Langford sued for about $1.88 million, including the accelerated debt and interest. Those are allegations in the City’s claim, not a finding that this entire amount was permanently lost.

The road opened in 2018. The next council had to chase the promised payment.

Public access depended on private permission.

Payment was not the only unfinished business. In June 2023, the City reported new restrictions and access charges5 on private land along a route to Goldstream Provincial Park and Mount Finlayson. A familiar recreation route lacked the permanent public access residents needed.

The following council directed staff to explore legal options, including expropriation6, to secure a public right of way. Public access needed a legally protected route that private owners could not simply withdraw.

The recreation-centre sale at Bear Mountain tells a related story: Young’s council surrendered public ownership in exchange for promised improvements, with a recreation-use restriction that expires.

Private promises needed stronger public safeguards.

In September 2024, a court appointed a receiver over Ecoasis development entities7. Receivership does not by itself establish what Langford ultimately recovered, but it underscores the problem with relying on a developer’s future ability to pay.

Young promoted developer partnerships as a way to deliver growth and amenities. Bear Mountain exposes the unfinished side of that story: public financing committed, repayment disputed, and access left to private control. His successors had to enforce obligations and secure protections that should have been central to the original deals.

Sources

  1. April 18, 2016 council agenda, Bear Mountain Parkway finance reportPrinted pages 35–39: up to $5 million borrowing, 15-year term, parcel-tax recovery and benefiting properties.
  2. April 15, 2024 council agenda, cost-recovery reportPrinted pages 145–146: adopted borrowing bylaws, 2018 opening and adjustment of parcel-tax recovery.
  3. Rick Stiebel, Goldstream News Gazette, December 1, 2016Groundbreaking, construction timing and developer financing; reproduced by Bear Mountain.
  4. The Westshore, March 21, 2024: Bear Mountain repayment lawsuitReported terms and allegations in Langford’s March 14 civil claim.
  5. City of Langford, June 6, 2023 trail-access announcementPrivate access restrictions and proposed legal protection.
  6. June 19, 2023 council minutesItem 10.1: adopted direction to explore legal options to secure public access.
  7. Alvarez & Marsal: Ecoasis receivershipSeptember 18, 2024 court appointment and identification of affected entities.