Disappointed with council

The current Kelowna city councillors will likely be unconcerned about their fate come election day.

Usually, they retain their seats just because they have occupied them for the past few years, and apathy is the norm. During their time in office, they have disappointed me over and over again. I cannot even remember all of it but here are a few examples:

Giving lip service to homeless initiatives, but with each step forward there is at least one back (as I write, Inn from the Cold which I helped found back in 1999, does not have a place for this winter, shameful).

Building a glorified souvenir shop disguised as a tourist bureau right on the waterfront despite many protests against it.

Approving a dog beach right beside the iconic symbol of Kelowna, The Sails fountain.

Allowing a several storey building on the corner of Prospera Place parking lot.

Closing the only deep water boat launch downtown, forcing everyone to the El Dorado launch, doubling up on an already very busy area despite protests from many users.

Asking for neighbourhood feedback on the building of four very large towers including a dangerous indoor boat storage right smack in the middle of a largely residential area of the Mission, and then ignoring the objections to it with approval anyway (Aqua Project). For the record, only Mayor Basran voted against. This is an absolutely horrendous decision. They promise to improve beach access. I recall back in 2000 or so when Mission Shores was being approved, they promised beach access because they were building on precious shoreline. To this day, there is no access to the beach in front of that complex except by water.

All of the above have disappointed me greatly, but none so much as this last one. In spring of 2016 (approx), those of us living in close proximity to the proposed new Waters Edge North, were asked for feedback on allowing the city to approve variations to the original building plans. Being very much against that, our strata council appeared before city council representing our 65 owners, and some of us wrote individual letters, pleading with them to not allow narrowing the alley separating our two buildings. Our concern was mainly for safety reasons as we were worried about emergency vehicles being able to get near our building in case of fire. 

Once again, council refused to listen. On July 8, 2017, our worst fears were realized when a worker with a blow torch started a fire that burned us out. The fire department was unable to get around to the back of our building due to the narrow alley. There were not enough fire hydrants to connect to, and another access was blocked when the Walnut Motel also caught fire.

The only way it was extinguished was by boat on Mission Creek!

We were all forced to try to find rentals for two years in a city with no vacancies. It has been a nightmare. This summer our strata council attempted to meet with the city to ensure proper fire safety measures were being looked at for our return. We wanted to request an emergency access road along Mission Creek (space is already there) and another fire hydrant. But no one from the city would talk to us. We were told by the only two who responded (Tracy Gray and Colin Basran) that since legal action may be in the works (by the insurance companies, not us), they would not be able to discuss anything with us. 

For all of these reasons, I as a taxpayer of 21 years, will not be voting for any of the current city councillors. Mayor Basran has at least shown some interest by not rubber stamping approval on every big development that comes along, but the councillors have turned a blind eye to longtime residents in favour of outside interests with deep pockets.

Our city is being turned into just another big, sprawling city. Our waterfront is being gradually filled up with buildings.

M. Hanak, Kelowna