CBRM, landowner tentatively settle over cruise ship berth property

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality is close to settling up after expropriating several parcels of land in Sydney harbour for the construction of a second cruise ship berth.

CBRM expropriated six parcels of land from numbered companies belonging to Jerry Nickerson in 2018 to make way for the new dock.

Nickerson did not accept the value offered by the municipality, so he applied to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board for compensation.

The matter was scheduled for a hearing this week, but late last week, the parties reached a tentative settlement.

CBRM Mayor Amanda McDougall said she is unable to disclose any details, yet.

"Those discussions are happening between the former landowner and the CBRM, and I believe they have reached a tentative agreement on what a settlement could be, but that has to be finalized," she said.

According to documents filed with the UARB, the municipality initially cited an appraisal report valuing the properties at $1.8 million, but later revised that to $2.4 million.

Nickerson filed two appraisal reports. One valued the land at $4.2 million and the other set it at nearly $4.5 million.

Nickerson argued the sale of other lands along the harbour in downtown Sydney especially the former Robin Hood Flour property next to the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion made his properties on the other side of the marine terminal more valuable.

CBRM bought the former Robin Hood property with help from Enterprise Cape Breton Corp., a now-defunct federal economic development agency, and has since created green space there and allowed a temporary restaurant to operate on the site south of the main dock, which is home tothe Big Fiddle statue.

The municipality argued Nickerson's land north of the terminal was former industrial land that was vacant and less valuable.

When asked about the tentative settlement, he declined to comment.

McDougall said council will not have a say in the dealbecause it was before the utility and review board and now it's up to the two sides to negotiate.

However, she said, the details of the settlement will be made public as soon as they are ready.

Budget impact unknown

"Once I have direction from the legal team that this has concluded, we'll be making everything known very, very publicly," McDougall said.

CBRM built the second cruise ship berth and a helicopter landing pad nearby at an estimated cost of $20 million, which included equal funding from the municipality, the province and the federal government.

The final cost will depend on the price paid for the expropriated land.

McDougall said she could not say what impact, if any, the settlement would have on CBRM's budget.

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