232 Amendment Of Declaration To Extend Time For Election

PRACTICE

Amendment or Extension within Limits

The registrar checks to ensure that the application to extend the time for making the election to proceed complies with s. 232(2)(a) and (b) of the Act.

Submissions

On the Strata Property Act Filing form, select Form PA, Amended Phased Strata Plan Declaration, and attach an image of the amended Form P and, where applicable, a court certified copy of the court order extending the time.

Transfer of Remainder of Property after Extension of Time

Owner developers may transfer the remainder of the property in a phased strata plan after obtaining an extension of time within which to make an election. A sale of the remainder is subject to the phased strata regime that has been established. Following the sale, the purchaser must obtain the approval of the approving officer to a new Form P, Phased Strata Plan Declaration, and must file the Form P with the registrar.

CASE LAW

Approving Officer Ordered to Grant Extension of Time

The Phased Strata Plan Declaration (Form P of the Strata Property Regulation) filed at the land title office in 2007 contemplated a two-phase strata development. Phase I was substantially complete by May 2008, but financial difficulties and other issues arose thereafter. The petitioner, which had purchased the Phase I and II lands and acquired a foreshore lease, docks, and wharves, applied in late 2021 for an order pursuant to s. 232(3) of the Strata Property Act to extend the time for making an election to proceed with Phase II. The District of Ucluelet took no position, but the respondent strata corporation opposed the petition, saying, inter alia, that s. 234 of the Act requires written notice to the strata corporation of an application to amend the Form P, which would allow the strata corporation to have the right to make representations to the approving officer. The court said the approval process required under s. 237 would give the respondent the opportunity to provide input to an approving officer in the course of a new development permit being sought even if the petitioner were to elect not to proceed with the phased development. The court allowed the petition, as the development of Phase II could not proceed in the manner set out in the Form P filed almost 15 years previously, and there were no valid reasons to deny the extension. The court did not find the result sought by the respondent would be consistent with the structure and purposes of the relevant sections of the statute. The court ordered the approving officer to grant an extension of time for making the election to proceed to June 30, 2022 (Whiskey Landing Developments Ltd. v. Strata Plan VIS 6411, 2022 BCSC 445).