Most citizens envision the proposed new Cedar Park as a park for all Kelowna citizens, with open, unobstructed access to the lake and views. However, the City has plans to grant use of a large portion of this waterfront to the Kelowna Paddle Centre (KPC), in a matter of days (Council meeting on Monday, September 27), with no public input or an appropriate study regarding a suitable site for this facility. The objection to the City moving forward so quickly to establish the KPC in this park is not based on “anti-Paddle Centre” mentality. The KPC should have a permanent home in an appropriate location. The concern is that this decision is being rushed, when it doesn’t have to be, and that taking the required time to develop this park will ultimately be in the best interests of the citizens of Kelowna and the KPC—they need to be in a place where they can be properly accommodated as they grow over the years. Below are some facts regarding the park and placement of the KPC on this site: • There has been no study made public that proved that this park was the best location for the club despite numerous requests to see one. Both the City and the KPC have publicly stated that a study was conducted that led to the choice of this site. It has now been disclosed that no formal study was ever done. • Council has stated that there is no money in the budget to develop the park and have stated that it will be some time before anything will be done. However, they seem to have money in the budget to renovate the largest home on these properties for use by the KPC, which has less than 100 members. • KPC has a 3 year temporary lease on a 100-foot lot and has only used it for approximately one year. Only six months after being granted a Temporary Use Permit (TUP), the KPC became a mandated and required component of the park charrette process, with no public input. How did that happen? • KPC has the potential to dominate the park to the exclusion of other public activities and casual use. • KPC, on the other hand, has not demonstrated that it will, in fact, grow. It is possible that the membership might remain at a low level which would not justify the use of this valuable piece of parkland (approximately 240 linear feet of waterfront). This park is approximately the size of Rotary Park, so this represents quite a large percentage of the available park space and waterfront. • Requests for the public to see the financial statements and plans that have been filed by the KPC with the City have not been made public despite numerous requests. • Parking is a very serious problem in this area and the impact of this club needs to be accessed in more detail. A plan to accommodate the parking requirements of the three hundred members that the KPC envisions having within three years (and maybe trailers for watercraft) must be developed now, before construction of a purpose-built facility. We must be assured that this irreplaceable waterfront land will not gradually be turned into a parking lot for a private club. • There has been no study made public that gives a simple conceptual long-term plan for the park, yet the City is taking the first step of pinning a big facility into the park before it has been properly thought out. If you believe, as many do, that we need to take the proper and necessary time to develop this park to its highest potential for use by the majority of Kelowna citizens, please take a few minutes to do one of the following: · Write a Letter to the Editor in one of your favourite local newspapers · Write an e-mail to the Mayor and Council at: [email protected]
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 01:54:00 +0000
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