West Kelowna woman sues city over neighbouring business

Photo: Madison Reeve

FILE-West Kelowna is being called to court for a neighbourhood issue.

With the “quiet enjoyment of her property at risk,” a West Kelowna woman has gone to court to compel the city to invalidate her neighbour’s business licence.

In a lawsuit filed earlier this week, resident Adrienne Reim asks the court for a hearing that she hopes will end with an order for the City of West Kelowna to invalidate the business licence of landscape contractor Jason Gabel. Once this is done, she also wants the city to backtrack a land use change she said was in violation of the city’s own bylaws and official community plan.

According to the document, the business is causing issues for both her and the elderly people that live on a strata property nearby.

Gabel Holdings is a landscape contractor located at 1753 Lenz Road in West Kelowna. It’s located near Pinewood Villas Strata and Reim said the strata's common property passes by her freehold property. Gabel's parcel, which is zoned Residential Large Parcel, is also within 100 meters of the Reim’s land.

“Gabel's heavy-duty vehicles and equipment use the Strata's private roads since the premises is on a panhandle lot, with its only access by means of a Strata easement,” reads the court application.

“The Strata has no sidewalks. The elderly residents frequently use the easement to gain access to their mail located in the Strata's mail shed.”

In August 2024 a bylaw officer was called to the Gabel property and saw large fuel tanks, which is indicative of a landscape contractor service — a light industrial business, not the rural agricultural business it was zoned for.

Months later, in January, Reim inquired with the bylaw officer for an update on the investigation and was told he had to change the scope of his licence from nursery to landscape.

A few days later, Reim asked how that would happen and raised her concerns about an industrial business on that land. She was referred to the business licence department.

She made several inquiries and, a few weeks later, she learned that the city had amended the business licence to operate a landscape contractor service on the premises.

Reim then filed a Freedom of Information request to find out how and when this happened.

When results of that request came back, Reim alleges a “Nov. 1, 2024 email from the business licence department that had amended Gabel’s business licences to permit Gabel to operate a landscape contractor service on its RU4 zoned parcel,” reads the court document.

In February, Reim contacted the city again about her zoning concerns.

She was told that no rezoning had occurred on the Gabel premises because Gabel was a residence with a home based business license. Loudoun claimed that Gabel could operate a light industrial use pursuant to that kind of license and no rezoning had occurred because the operation did not encompass the entire premises.

Reim sent a letter protesting this, nonetheless, and was told the amended licence would stand.

In February she filed a notice of claim with the city, and after “repeated requests for the city’s responses” there was still nothing.

Thus the request for a hearing.

Ultimately, she said, “Gabel's industrial use of its property on the easement without sidewalks poses a danger to elderly Strata pedestrians, will ruin the petitioner's quiet enjoyment in her property, and will likely reduce the value of her home.”

She believes the light industrial use of the property will depreciate the strata easement roads and sewer system at an accelerated rate, necessitating an increase in the petitioner's Strata fees.

“The city acted in excess of its authority when it rezoned Gabel's land use from a RU4 legal use (plant nursery) to an illegal use (landscape contract services, a light industrial use), by means of an amended business license,” Reim said.

“The city used its business licensing powers to regulate a land use matter that can only be regulated through the city's zoning powers.”

The city has yet to respond.