Letter To Walter Gray

Dear Mr. Gray,

Re: Boppart Property

The current Nature’s Shores development proposal for the Boppart property adjacent to Knox Mountain Park requests a change in the Official Community Plan (OCP) to allow the construction of 70 buildings with 145 units in the 22 hectares (55 acres) of the useable area. This area is currently zoned to permit no more than 28 units on the site. Also included in the plans is a 75 slip marina.

The Boppart property is an undeveloped natural forest area and wildlife corridor on the lakeshore in Central Kelowna. The majority of the 125 members of the Kelowna Canoe and Kayak Club have grave concerns about the residential development of the property and the construction of a marina in this area:

· The developer’s own environmental report identifies the entire shoreline of the property as a sensitive Kokanee spawning area.
· The large marina, with sewage “pump out”, would seriously interfere with the Kokanee spawning area.
· Noise from boats arriving and departing would create an environment unsuitable for the fish, not to mention the neighborhood itself.
· Development of the property would severely jeopardize the wild life corridor.

Only a year ago, in January of 2004, City Council voted unanimously to reconfirm the present designation of Agricultural/Rural, with the proponents expressing concerns regarding the loss of green space if more intensive development took place.

We urge you to deny the development proposal put forward by Nature’s Shores. The proposed density of this project is 500% more than currently slated in the approved OCP. The marina will have a negative impact on the protected Kokanee population of Okanagan Lake. The damage such an intensive development would cause to the wildlife passage and spawning area is not worth the change in the OCP designation to permit this development.

We strongly suggest the City of Kelowna purchase the Boppart property and preserve its pristine surroundings as park land.

Yours truly,
Ron McKay,
President Kelowna Canoe and Kayak Club