In July 2022, a developer offered to buy Yoko South. I asked if he would keep the community we had promised. He said no. He would build as many houses as he could. So I said no.
I believed I was protecting a promise. My ego was in there too. I fell in love with the vision, and too much with myself as the person behind it.
Turning down that offer was, in my judgment now, a major mistake.
By late 2022, the COVID rush was fading. I underestimated that change. I also underestimated the people opposing the project. They had more money, local knowledge and influence than I did.
We did beach cleanups, helped a school install hot showers and supported a wildlife sanctuary. But to some people, we were the big foreign development making the town more expensive. We didn't help ourselves. We put up too many signs and drove too many branded cars, and they poked people in the eye.
Part of that was true. We were part of the gentrification, even while I wanted to build something good. I kept telling myself people would understand once we finished. But we had to survive long enough to finish.
In 2024, after about three years, individual titles finally came through for the lots at North and South. Then a new mayor challenged the South road, and the titles were blocked again.
My written story stops here, in mid-2024. Read where things stand today.