KELOWNA, B.C. – UPDATE 4:40 p.m. with comments from Manteo owner, Adrian Block:
A lakeshore hotel in the Okanagan will immediately scale back a marina currently under construction following community and owner concerns.
Manteo Resort has agreed to remove 24 pilings that would have created 30 of the 172 boat slips within sight lines of Kelowna’s Rotary Beach.
Many residents had complained about the disruption to water activities when the marina construction began in recent months.
The owner of Manteo resort, Adrian Block, says he also questioned the marina’s impact as construction unfolded.
“The day the pilings went in, I had concerns about the project,” Block told Global Okanagan news Friday afternoon.
Block says the location of the 172 slip marina was chosen in the approval process by the Federal Government. Manteo had originally asked to simply rebuild the aging marina to the south of the new location. That request was denied due to concern for fish spawning ground.
The KLO Neighbourhood Association met with Block Thursday at his request.
“The meeting assisted in making a final decision as to the best approach,” says Block, who says neighbourhood and greater community concerns about the Marina were founded.
KLO Spokesperson Michael Neill says the decision is an important one for the entire community.
“We’re really happy that he was sensitive to the beach,” says Neill saying no one understood the impact of the marina until the pilings went in. “Because on paper, it looked right.”
Block says the changes will reduce the marina’s visual impact when sighted from Rotary Beach Park.
The first pilings will be removed either late Friday or first thing Monday morning, according to Block, who has no estimate at this time on how much the removal will cost him.
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