Heather Wright/The Independent

Petrolia developer Horst Richter says if he’d wanted to sell a plot of land on Eureka Street, he would have done it himself.

He plans to take legal action against the Town of Petrolia after it declared the five-acre parcel surplus and is preparing to sell it.

In 2014, Richter, working with the staff and council at the time – CAO Manny Baron, Parks and Recreation Director Dave Menzies and John McCharles, who was the mayor of the day – donated the land-locked property to the town with the intention of it becoming a park. Richter says the land was transferred but there was no bill of sale and he didn’t receive a signed tax receipt for $50,000 until asking for it this year.

In 2016, Richter proposed a development to the south of the park. The plan, approved by the town, included a walkway to the proposed park. Richter later sold the property to a private developer.

It appeared, the park was still in the works. In May 2021, Menzies circulated a letter to neighbours who were concerned about flooding in the area, outlining what the town planned to do to ease the water problem, including removing trees to allow for more light and installing catch basins. That letter also talked about fencing the property for a potential dog park.

In February this year, Lifetime Building Services of Mississauga came to council with a plan to build eight units with six condos each on the property beside the donated land.

By April, town council considered a report from the Director of Legal Services, Mandi Pearson, which suggested council put the proposed park parcel next to the new housing development up for sale.

“Staff originally produced several concepts of what these lands could be used for to engage public enjoyment, unfortunately with further research into each of the concepts it proved not feasible to proceed,” she wrote.

The developer spoke to council, handing them a letter from his lawyer, which said the property was donated for a park. If the town wasn’t developing a park, Richter reasoned, he wanted it back.
The process to sell the land, seemed to be on hold.

It’s not clear whether the town secured a third party to place a value on the land nor whether it has a buyer for the parcel.

In October, Deputy Mayor Joel Field asked to have the matter brought to council again. On Nov. 15, council agreed to declare the land surplus and sell it, despite Richter’s objects.

Monday, during Petrolia’s council meeting, he again repeated his wish for the parcel to be a park. Members of council did not engage with Richter, with Mayor Brad Loosley saying he had brought the issue to a lawyer so it was not possible to discuss the land publicly.

Richter told The Independent Tuesday “I’ve been trying to play nice with them, so to speak, and yes, at the root of it all, there is no written agreement that it would be a dog park, or a park, period.” But he said it was still in the works, according to Menzies letter in 2023, shortly before the director’s retirement.

Ritcher says he’s been forced to take legal action to make sure the park is built as he originally wanted when he donated the plan to the town in 2014.

“I’d like the town to follow through on their promise to me to create a park,” he sayd.
“If there is no way that they’re going to do a park, then give it back to me and I’ll do a park. I have the equipment. I have excavators, dozers, dump trucks. I have the stuff. I’ll do what I envisioned the town would do,” he added.