Kelowna councilors have recognized that the city needs parks and recreation areas. They also agreed that industrial land is becoming scarce, especially closer to the heart of the city. What council couldn’t agree on was how the two needs could coexist in the case of Kelowna Springs Golf Course. The motion put forward by Coun. Luke Stack returns the golf course’s future land use designation to private recreation from industrial to the 2040 Official Community Plan (OCP) was defeated Monday. With K. Brad Sieben recused himself from the discussion because he provides insurance services for the current owner, the remaining councilors split 4-4, meaning the proposal was defeated. “We have a choice in front of us today about Kelowna Springs, we can choose to save it or to lay it down. I’m going to choose to save it,” Stack said at the end of a long, impassioned plea to his fellow councillors. Stack called on the city council and city staff to explore other options for industrial land, such as the remaining space in the Airport Industrial Park, the Jim Bailey Industrial Park or what he called underutilized industrial areas downtown, downtown and up and down the highway in Kelowna. “The city owns 182 acres of land adjacent to the Kelowna Landfill. Could some of that property be repurposed for light industry or warehouses?” Stack asked. “I don’t know, we have to explore it.” “A commercial real estate professional group was quoted last year as saying in its assessment that there are 280 acres of underutilized industrial land in the city.” Stack was supported by colleagues Charlie Hodge, Maxine Dehart and Mohini Singh. He even had the support of mayoral candidate Tom Dias, who started a petition on the issue over the weekend. “With over 500 people signing a petition launched just this weekend asking the council to reverse its original decision to jeopardize the future of these lands and this wetland, voters have clearly shown that the council council is on the wrong side of the public on this issue.” Diaz said in a statement before the result. However, Stack was unable to influence his fellow councilors enough to join him. Coun. Ryan Donn said you can’t put industrial uses anywhere, echoing others who point out that a lot of industrial land is on the edge of town, away from where people lived. Those opposed also suggested that industrial operations provide good jobs for people who find it increasingly unaffordable to live in the city. Coun. Gail Given also said there is a perception that changing future land use will protect the golf course forever. “I don’t think anything could be further from the truth,” Given said. “The truth of the matter is that this would remain a golf course if the economics and land values deemed it viable as a golf course. “Land economics in Kelowna really drives a lot of things. That’s why we no longer have water slides downtown, or drive-in theaters, or even a campground in our city because the land economics don’t make them viable anymore.” It was also recalled that the City was the owners of Kelowna Springs who approached city staff about a possible land use change during the development of the 2040 OCP, saying they could not guarantee the future of the golf course during its lifetime OCP.
