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March 28, 2012
Neighbour says permanent changes made on ‘temp permit’
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BOBBI-SUE MENARD
Athlete A Lake Country skier is one of the best in Canada at freestyle events. Tyson Oland was golden in big air and placed 6th in the slope style skiing event. ..........................
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Celebrate the fine art book Okanagan College has a specialized program in which students study the fine art of printing books that are works of art in themselves. ......................
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Flyers â– JYSK â– Staples â– K.M.S. Tools â– Home Depot
It was standing room only at the District of Lake Country council meeting on March 20. The packed council chambers were due to two separate yet conflated issues about temporary permits and land zoning along Seaton Road.
BACKGROUND To find Seaton Road in Lake Country, travel west on Glenmore Road and keep going through the intersection, it becomes Seaton Road which leads to the new Sage Glen neighbourhood and the long established yet slowly being deactivated gravel pits. Currently, the properties on the south side of Seaton Road are zoned in the Agricultural Land Reserve, but in the Official Community Plan, the properties are slated to become zoned I-1, general, for industrial use. The future zoning plans also include the decommissioned but not reclaimed gravel pits south of Okanagan Centre Road West. While there are seven properties along the south side of Seaton Road up for eventual rezoning, the public interest at this time is focused two particular properties. The home owned by Diane Wilde on an acre and a half, and the slightly larger prop-
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erty owned by the Farmer family that surrounds Wilde’s property in a ‘C’ shape. Jeremy Farmer had applied to the ALR to have the property rezoned to I-1, pending a motion from district council. Many area residents say this is the first they have heard of the possibility of that rezoning application, despite the OCP process and are opposed not only to Farmer’s application, but to every property designated under the OCP to be eventually converted to I-1. The second issue that had area residents upset is the neighbour relationship between Wilde and the Farmer, and the Farmer’s temporary use permit of their land for the storage of heavy equipment. Farmer is a heavy duty mechanic and had taken out a permit in the past for business dealings on his property. Wilde has documented over 100 instances of past breaches of conditions of the temporary use permit.
COUNCIL MEETING At the council meeting, there were mutterings of dismay from the crowd when they learned that the rezoning bylaws were up for first and second reading, and therefore not open to public comment yet, as per statutory regulation.
DOUG FARROW/CONTRIBUTOR
DIANE WILDE at the corner of her Seaton Road property. Next door a large property is being excavated while there is only a six-month permit to store excavation equipment or run it for five-minute periods only. After some administrative discussion, three parcels of the potential seven were passed through first and second reading: The property owned by Farmer and a pair of neighbouring properties to the west owned by the Free Methodist Church. The location, date and time for the public hearing must be posted through advertising in local newspapers for two weeks prior to the meeting. Staff must prepare reports prior to that announcement.
TEMPORARY USE PERMIT During the public comment portion of March 20 council meeting, it was possible for the public to make their opinions known about the temporary use permit that was issued to the Farmer. Of most concern to residents was the perceived inabil-
ity of bylaw enforcement to achieve visible results in regards to the activity on the Farmer’s property. Residents firmly expressed their concern that enforcement was not effective. Lake Country Mayor James Baker pointed out that orders and tickets had been issued and that if compliance isn’t achieved through those methods, the district can either revoke the temporary use permit, choose to not renew it, or eventually pursue court action. After listening to the very cranky crowd, mayor and council unanimously passed a motion denying Farmer a renewal of his temporary use permit. In a later interview, Baker said bylaw enforcement relies in part on the willingness of people to be a good neighbour. “We act on
every complaint and try to get people to comply. We send out the bylaw officer, we have ticketing. But if it doesn’t work eventually it is court and that is expensive.�
WILDE’S SIDE OF THE STORY Diane Wilde purchased her quaint farm house on Seaton Road in 2002 precisely because it is the ALR. “I love this community and area.� The Farmer family moved in about a year later and for a while everything was smooth sailing. But in 2005, Wilde said they started moving in dump truck loads of dirt fill, altering the landscaping surrounding her home. After making a verbal complaint to the district, Wilde said the problem of the excess fill was never solved and she never heard back from the district. However, life went on a little less
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happily than before, but manageable. In 2009, activity on the lands surrounding her home really picked up. A very large pile of steel girders was deposited on her eastern property line, disturbing her view. She made a formal complaint in 2011 after discussions led nowhere. By that time a large retaining wall had been erected on the Farmer property on the hillside above Wilde’s property with no permit or geotechnical engineering. Wilde’s concern is that without proper engineering, there is a direct threat to her home below the wall. She continued filing written complaints in regards to the construction and earth movement in the spring of 2011 and was advised that Farmer SEE CHANGES A3