103 Execution Of Plan By Owner

PRACTICE

Electronic Plans

An execution copy of an electronic plan application signed in accordance with s. 168.42 of the Land Title Act satisfies the signature requirements for owners and witnesses in signing an electronic plan.

CROSS REFERENCES AND OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

See Di Castri, Registration of Title to Land, vol. 1, §6:10.

CASE LAW

Power to Dispense with Signature

The respondent property owner granted the petitioner’s predecessor a six-month temporary statutory right of way over a strip of land running the length of the eastern boundary of his property for the purpose of widening an adjacent roadway. The agreement provided that the land, which was to be dedicated as highway, was to be exchanged for land adjacent to the southern boundary of the respondent’s property which would be vested in the respondent’s name and consolidated into the title to his property. The agreement also provided that the respondent would sign the plans indicating the portion of his land to be dedicated and acknowledged that the plans would be deposited in the land title office. Following the expiry of the term of the temporary statutory right of way, the respondent refused to sign the documents required to complete the land exchange, including a reference plan prepared for that purpose. The petitioner applied to the court for various forms of relief, including a declaratory order that it was entitled to deposit the reference plan in the land title office without the necessity of obtaining the signature of the respondent. The court refused to grant the order sought, holding that it is the registrar appointed under the Land Title Act who is empowered by the legislature to decide whether an owner’s signature on a subdivision plan ought to be dispensed with and that the court should decline to grant a declaratory order which would have the effect of usurping the power conferred by the legislature upon an appointed official or other body (Wesbild Enterprises Ltd. v. Shular, 1991 CanLII 253 (BC SC)).

Dispute over Whether Creek Moved

For a case where litigation ensued after landowners refused to approve a proposed change pursuant to s. 103, see the case annotation of Burko v. Martindale, 2023 BCSC 2 under “105 Power of registrar if measurements on plans conflict” in this chapter.