Peachland church relieved expropriation spat with municipality is over

Church has 'sigh of relief'

Photo: Contributed

Peachland Baptist Church

The Peachland Baptist Church says its congregation is having a “collective sigh of relief” after it was revealed the municipality is no longer attempting to expropriate their property.

Peachland mayor Patrick Van Minsel announced Tuesday the district is no longer going after the church property to build a new fire hall.

The church said it learned of the decision via the council announcement, rather than by direct correspondence from the municipality.

“For many years the town has pursued acquisition of the church’s property, more recently with expropriation being raised as a tool that the town might use to force the issue,” said the church in a statement after the decision.

"Although the church has been clear it never wanted to move, because of the importance of a fire hall it has attempted to collaborate on a mutually agreeable solution, including a potential move of the church building to a different lot. Those plans were recently rejected by the town given the expense to relocate on terms that are mutually agreeable.”

The church's statement said the mayor’s announcement “brings certainty to the church after a protracted phase of destabilization.”

“We have always publicly supported the need for a new fire hall, and we applaud the decision of the town to return to a basic hall design that won’t displace us. This is a great decision for us, but also for the whole community,” said pastor Lyle Wahl.

In a 2022 referendum, Peachland residents approved borrowing up to $17.5 million to build a new protective services building at 13th Street and San Clemente Avenue.

Since then, concerns arose that there would not be enough money for the project, with the municipality floating the idea of a private-public mixed-use partnership. The municipality also declared, controversially, it might need some of the neighbouring church’s property.

With the district now dropping its pursuit of the church’s property, municipal staff were directed to proceed with a request for proposals to design a basic firehall on district-owned property.