Parking for channel floaters has been redirected to a lot in front of Sun Leisure, causing issues for residents

Residents of Sun Leisure Mobile Home Park are voicing their concerns after a parking lot for the south end of the Penticton Channel was closed off and relocated to a lot outside their entrance. 

The City announced plans to direct parking elsewhere for channel floaters after they wanted less crowding around the end, stating they worked with the Penticton Indian Band, K'ul Group, Coyote Cruises and Locatee land owners to create the path to the other lot. 

“Before it wasn’t this much backlog that I could see and on a long weekend, you just stayed away. You either didn’t leave the house or you just left for camping or whatever, because you just didn’t want to deal with it,” Amanda Tomlin, a resident of Sun Leisure said.

Residents stated they’ve been having issues for years with floaters already parking there, blocking the entrance to their homes, speeding through or causing accidents. But now that people are being directed there it’s gotten worse. 

“This is the only access we have to our homes, so if we get any kind of congestion or any kind of problems, it does make it very difficult for us to come and go in a safe manner,” Julie Thompson, another resident said, 

A petition for the area to have a traffic light was already started by the residents, since the road often sees constant car crashes with drivers trying to get on the highway.

“Every year we go through this and all at the same time,” Dave Busch, resident of Sun Leisure said. “And now it's escalating, we’ve had lots of people injured, lots of car accidents and this is the first time that they’ve done anything.” 

Although the city has added medians and signs to discourage drivers from turning left, the residents don’t see that as an appropriate solution. They say the increased numbers have caused more accidents in their area and too many drivers are entering Sun Leisure. 

“I don’t feel safe letting my kids off my deck,” Tomlins said. “There’s too many people flying in and out of this parking lot now.”

“I’d love to have a meeting with the City, with the Penticton Indian Band, with the owner of the space and just say ‘Hey we need some solution.’”