Kelowna, British Columbia City Council member Luke Stack says he intends to bring forward a motion at the next regular meeting to change the land designation of Kelowna Springs Golf Course (KSGC) under the 2040 Official Community Plan (OCP). The KSGC property is currently listed as potential industrial use within the OCP, and Stack is hoping council will vote to change it to private recreational. If council does approve the change, the matter will need to go to a public hearing.
A city council member is hoping he will now have enough support to keep open Kelowna Springs Golf Course (KSGC) in Kelowna, British Columbia, Kelowna Capital News reported.
At the end of council’s Jan. 9 meeting, Luke Stack said he intended to bring forward a motion at the next regular meeting to change the land designation of KSGC under the 2040 Official Community Plan (OCP).
The KSGC property is currently listed as potential industrial use within the OCP, and Stack is hoping council will vote to change it to private recreational, Kelowna Capital News reported.
He had tried in summer of 2022 to have the designation changed, however, his motion ended in a tie vote and was automatically defeated.
“When I go back and look at who voted which way many of those who opposed it at the time are not serving on this council,” Stack said.
Former mayor Colin Basran, and former council members Gail Given and Ryan Donn voted against Stack’s motion, while former council member Brad Sieben excused himself from the vote noting a conflict of interest, Kelowna Capital News reported. Council member Loyal Wooldridge also voted against the motion.
Stack and Council members Mohini Singh, Charlie Hodge, and Maxine DeHart voted in favor of the change.
During the 2022 municipal election campaign, Mayor Tom Dyas said if he were elected he would fight to save KSGC from being “turned into warehouses,” Kelowna Capital News reported.
“Residents have told me that they expect their next mayor to fight to save Kelowna Springs and that’s what I will do,” he said in a July 2022 news release.
Stack said he needs to confirm with city staff if a six-month waiting period, applied to developments defeated by council unless the mayor brings the matter back, will affect his motion, Kelowna Capital News reported.
“Then I would recommend we wait until it does,” he said.
Since the motion dates back to August 2022, it’s likely Stack’s new motion would be introduced in February. If council does approve the change, the matter will need to go to a public hearing, Kelowna Capital News reported.
“The public really didn’t have an opportunity to weigh in,” he said. “They did by letter, very heavily, but there was never a public hearing.”
Kelowna Springs ownership initially approached city staff regarding a possible land designation change to commercial or industrial, with the expectation they were going to cease operating, Kelowna Capital News reported.
The golf course was identified as a major opportunity for new industrial development by the city in 2020.
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