Vancouver British Columbia - CP Rail says it was more than fair to give gardeners a month to remove items and plants encroaching the Arbutus Corridor and will now take the next step to clear the land.
 
But community gardeners along the 11-kilometre strip of land adjacent to the non-operational rail line argue they weren't given enough time and add it's "punishing" not to be able to finish out this growing season, especially since the rail company has never objected to the gardens in the past.
 
Although the 1 Aug 2014 deadline has passed, community gardens along the corridor still have sheds and plantings on the land, said CP spokesperson Breanne Feigel Tuesday.
 
"What we're doing is working to return the tracks to operating standards. We needed to ask to have any items that were encroaching be removed so we can safely operate trains," she said.
 
"We need our entire right-of-way. CP Rail crew have started to identify what needs to be removed. We've let people know and gave them a month to remove the encroachment. Since April we've been communicating to residents this was going to occur and we're at a point now where we need to remove their property. Unfortunately, this is the next step."
 
The city has 350 permitted garden plots, some of which have been operating for decades along the Arbutus Corridor, which stretches from the Fraser almost to False Creek.
 
George Pinch, who has been gardening with the Arbutus Victory Garden since it started in the 1980s, said his plot is about five to six feet into CP Rail land.
 
"My raspberry patch is definitely encroaching and a portion of my veggie garden. I had a hazelnut tree on CP land but I sawed that down one week ago. I planted it 10 years ago. I didn't want to remove it but I figured they were going to take it down anyways," he said.
 
"None of us in the community garden thought the deadline was fair. It was the beginning of August when we would be realizing the fruits of our labour. We all know it's their land but it was a little brutal."
 
He said a more fair deadline would have been in September or October to allow gardeners a chance to gather the beets, potatoes, lettuce, and other plants now coming through.
 
"It would have been much kinder but we all believe they (CP Rail) are trying to force the city to come up with the money they are wanting for the land."
 
Sources familiar with the negotiations say the city has offered $20 million to buy the land from CP Rail but the company wants $80 million.
 
Neither the city nor CP Rail would confirm the price being sought or offered for the land.
 
Maureen Ryan, a spokesperson for the Cypress and Maple Community Gardens, said both gardens were established decades ago and for years coexisted with CP trains until they stopped running nearly 14 years ago.
 
She said when the trains were running, CP rail was fine with the gardens being 20 feet from the centre of the track but now they want to assert 33 feet right-of-way on both sides of the track.
 
She said over the years, the gardens have encroached and about one-third of their veggie gardens are on CP lands.
 
The club's water line is on CP lands, added Ryan, and it's having trouble finding volunteers able to move the line.
 
"If we knew in the spring, when we have a work party, we would have been able to move it then. But finding people in the heat of August is punishing," she said, adding many members are away on holiday.
 
Pine Street Community Garden spokesperson Verena Foxx said their club, on 6th Avenue between Burrard and Fir, is one of the youngest along the corridor, having been operating for about seven years.
 
"We've definitely encroached but we've looked after that area and made it functional," she said.
 
"Our main issue with CP was to let us continue to the end of this gardening season. We're just carrying on and hope to harvest our product this season and then we'll be adjusting our gardens."
 
Foxx said the club asked CP if it would extend the deadline but didn't get any response.
 
"They're not being very neighbourly about it."

Kim Pemberton.

Editor's Note:  It's time to issue trespassing fines.