'Paved paradise, put up a parking lot:' Kaslo council reconsiders RV park proposal

Photo: Contributed

Kaslo council voted 3-1 on the revised RV park proposal.

The Village of Kaslo has reopened talks with developers who want to create a recreational vehicle park on property located near the south side of the Kaslo River.

At a May 27 meeting, council voted three-to-one in favour of reopening the purchase and land agreement with the proponent, QP Property Developments. The company is looking to rezone the privately-owned waterfront property to build an RV park with strata ownership.

The area of discussion has been used by the community for years to access the river despite being privately owned.

“It's become an issue because (residents) feel that it's been established, that they've had unfettered access to the waterfront through his property,” said Mayor Suzan Hewatt.

Council rejected the proponent's initial proposal earlier this year, with the expectation that the company would come back to the table with changes. The potential sale agreement has also caused a stir within the community. The village has received around 10 letters supporting the project and around 200 letters expressing opposition.

One of the letters opposing the project expressed concern about its potential to “change a beautiful, quiet, lakeside part of the village, for visitors and residents.”

Photo: Samantha Holomay

Photo of the Kaslo River near, the proposed RV park location.

Some community members have also taken issue with the ownership structure, concerned that it would encourage buyers to only use the lots for short periods. Others said that the move could bring in transient visitors who may not contribute to the community the same way residents do. There were also environmental concerns discussed due to the area being a floodplain.

“I think that there's a large group that looks at it the way that Joni Mitchell said, “You paved paradise and you put up a parking lot,” said Coun. Matthew Brown.

Brown was the only member who voted against the new proposal. He argued that it wasn’t vastly different from the first, and that it only slightly reduced the number of strata lots from 90 to around 70.

The sale agreement is currently in a limbo stage. Councillors are working on submitting a draft with the conditions they want to include in order to have some control over how the park would operate.

On top of environmental protection and making sure that the RV park wouldn't disrupt the village’s water system, other conditions include restricting lot numbers, seasonal usage, and agreeing on a land swap size.

Village staff have begun drafting a new purchase and sale agreement, however, no formal public sale agreement notice has been made at this time. The proposal is not on the agenda for the upcoming council meeting, but the public is still able to present their concerns to the village.

After the draft is presented to the proponent, they can decide whether or not to reject it or to negotiate changes.

If negotiations collapse, the sale wouldn’t go through. If the new conditions are accepted council would have to create a new bylaw, which would involve more public notices and hearings.