Poole鈥檚 Land is shutting down.
The travellers and residents that made up the famous, controversial and longstanding 鈥渆co-village鈥� or 鈥渉ippie commune鈥� community on the outskirts of Tofino have largely dispersed. The structures they stayed and lived in are being torn down, according to Michael Poole, who owns the roughly 20-acre property.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e both the very best who are staying to help me clean up this mess, the true friends, and then there鈥檚 the ones who just really can鈥檛 seem yet to manage. People who just can鈥檛 operate in the usual world and love it here,鈥� Poole said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all transforming. We鈥檙e cleaning the board for a new era to begin, whatever it is鈥鈥檝e been the garbage man here and I don鈥檛 want to be in charge of anything anymore. I鈥檝e had it. It was good, but I鈥檓 kind of burned out on it, honestly; more than burned out.鈥�
Poole purchased the property in 1988. What it became began to take shape about a year later as people began visiting and staying.
鈥淭here were the really intelligent, the best travellers and university educated people that really came from good families and then there were the ones coming from totally broken situations with no education and poor working skills and all of that, so it鈥檚 been dynamic let鈥檚 say,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t turned into some kind of experience for people and I guess the town at first saw it as staff accommodation.鈥�
He estimated the land hosted upward of 100 people in any given day during Tofino鈥檚 busy summer months and perpetually carried a varied reputation, from being heralded for the desperately needed staff housing it provided, to being slammed for its loose laws and perceived illegal activity.
鈥淲henever anybody does anything, there鈥檚 always a bell curve of responses. Many of the people still in Tofino got their start here because there was nowhere else to get a foothold in order to get a job and to stay. Even among that group, there鈥檚 a bunch of different responses,鈥� he said.
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He believes it was the affordable accommodation his land offered that allowed Poole鈥檚 Land to exist with little government intervention, despite its illegality, for over 30 years. He also said he was already itching to move on before Tofino鈥檚 district office began handing him fines this past summer.
鈥淚鈥檝e thanked [Tofino鈥檚 fire chief and manager of protective services] Brent Baker many times for giving the three fines of $1,000 each, that really got my attention. At first, I thought, 鈥極h well, they鈥檙e just rattling sabers because they have to,鈥� but then I realized, no, this is real and I said 鈥楾hank you. This is so good. Now I get to quit this crummy job cleaning up after world travellers,鈥欌�� Poole said. 鈥淚鈥檓 fully dedicated now. I know I鈥檝e run around the bush many times, but now it鈥檚 time to sell the place鈥鈥檓 out.鈥�
Baker has been with the district office for over three years and told the Westerly that he had not received a formal complaint about Poole鈥檚 Land, so the complaint-driven bylaw enforcement process had not been triggered, until early 2019.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 respond to complaints via Facebook and those sorts of things. When people sit down and take the time to go through the process, then we absolutely follow up with our process,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ometimes it can be a lengthy process and we have to work our way through it, make sure that we鈥檙e doing all our due diligence, but that was the case here and hopefully we end up with a positive outcome.鈥�
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He said the three $1,000 fines were related to zoning infractions after an investigation determined that Poole was operating a campground illegally, though the primary focus of the Poole鈥檚 Land crac down was centered around health and safety. He added that the Tofino Volunteer Fire Department has responded to two vehicle fires and one structure fire at the property in 2019.
鈥淭his process has been ongoing for about a year because we set out with the goal of voluntary compliance,鈥� he said, adding that Poole has been exemplary in his cooperation.
鈥淓very engagement that I鈥檝e had with Michael Poole has been very positive, very pleasant, he was very welcoming to myself or any other agencies that I brought along with me. He always greeted us as friendly as anybody you might imagine.鈥�
Poole has looked into selling the property before and said he鈥檚 now committed to seeing that sale through, suggesting he鈥檚 received offers on the land for around $3 million.
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He said he plans to help the Tofino Habitat Society with crowd funding or other means to try to buy the land from him, but added that it鈥檚 likely a developer will purchase it.
鈥淭here鈥檚 two options, one is that our society buys it and the other is that some rich developer buys it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hatever happens, from now on, it will have to comply with the bylaws of Tofino, which doesn鈥檛 really fit at all with our society and it鈥檚 very unlikely that a rag-tag crew could pull it together. It鈥檚 going to take some real savvy.鈥�
He added that he is skeptical about the society鈥檚 ability to take it on.
鈥淚, really, very much doubt that it鈥檚 going to go that way,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檇 say that this is ending and just going to get sold to someone typical.鈥�
He said he鈥檇 like to see the land used for educational purposes, particularly to test out alternative energy and living methods, rather than be developed in a traditional sense.
鈥淚鈥檝e got about a month to decide finally. And, in that month, we are going to put it out that this is over and what can happen next and see if there鈥檚 any interest out there from anywhere to do a really good job here, instead of the usual money-grubbing cement works,鈥� he said.
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He added that if the land does go to a developer, he plans to put at least $100,000 from the sale of Poole鈥檚 Land towards helping the society purchase an Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District lot near the West Coast landfill between Tofino and Ucluelet where, he believes, the residents who relied on Poole鈥檚 Land will be safely distanced from public and municipal scrutiny.
鈥淭hat, I believe, is the perfect halfway point where staff accommodation and food security meet in harmony. There鈥檚 no neighbours out there,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat takes the whole problem of staff accommodation out of Tofino and Ucluelet鈥t鈥檚 large enough to be a small town of its own.鈥�
He added though that he does not plan to be involved in the management of the potential new site.
鈥淚 won鈥檛 be part of all that. I鈥檒l be a visitor like everybody else. I don鈥檛 want to run anything. I don鈥檛 want to own anything. I鈥檓 going into my so called sadhu stage, which is when you divest of everything and let go of it all,鈥� he said. 鈥淚deally, right now, it will be up to the board of directors of the Tofino Habitat Society.鈥�
Poole noted Oct. 7 marked the 31st anniversary of Poole鈥檚 Land and said he鈥檚 excited to spend more time travelling.
鈥淚 became old here. From 37 to 68 this all happened and I stopped being a traveller to become landed. Now, I鈥檓 going back to being a traveller again,鈥� he said, adding he plans to explore and invest in other unique communities that he finds.
鈥淭o try and just add some good kitchens and quality food processing here and there,鈥� he said.
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
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