DWK takes control of Gellatly Bay

Houseboat owners take notice.

The District of West Kelowna has enacted a bylaw giving it control over municipal waterways, including Gellatly Bay which has been home to about a dozen houseboats for the past year.

Many area residents, most living in the Angus Drive area took their complaints to council last year, calling the houseboats an 'aquatic slum' and wondering what the houseboats would do for their property values and standard of living.

Tuesday, council passed the new W1 (Water Use Recreational) Zone, in effect, giving it control over the waterfront.

While supporting the bylaw in principal, Councillor Bryden Winsby says he is a little nervous about the implications.

"My concern is that the whole process is even-handed. I can understand and appreciate that the municipality wants control over the use of the bay," says Winsby.

"It's just that we are looking at a specific kind of vessel. Had complaints not been about the visual impact of people having to look at houseboats everyday, this issue would never have arisen."

Winsby says the real, underlying issue is that of moorage.

"How the municipality chooses to tackle that remains to be seen. Certainly there is no appetite for a municipal marina, so it becomes a matter of how do we encourage the private sector."

Houseboats began popping up in Gellatly Bay at the end of September last year after vessels were forced to leave both the Shelter Bay Marina and Sutherland Bay just north of the Tolko sawmill.

Winsby further wonders how the new bylaw will be enforced.

"Is it going to be complaint driven? Are there regular inspections that are going to take place? I don't know what the process will be."

He adds that the bylaw does not permit permanent moorage, however, it does allow for temporary moorage.

"I can see enforcement issues. Someone comes in, parks for three days, takes off for a day, comes back and parks for three days. Is that going to be allowed?"