KELOWNA — Residents of a Kelowna neighbourhood are about to lose park space to development.
A popular Kettle Valley sports field is being used like a park, but the land is only leased by the city and that agreement is coming to an end.
The large green space in the middle of the Village of Kettle Valley has been leased by the city of Kelowna and operated as a park for over a decade, but it actually belongs to a developer.
“It’s going to look like it does everywhere else, rooftops and front doors,” says Richard Stewart with The Association to Preserve the Heart of Kettle Valley. “We’re not against housing. We’re for the park.”
Kettle Valley Developments had offered right of first refusal to the school district, but now that the district has decided not to buy it, it’s open for development.
Residents have seen initial plans to build houses on the greenspace at an open house and aren’t impressed.
“None of the designs as presented were acceptable to the greater community that showed up, so, it’s back with the developer and they’re redrafting,” Stewart says.
The Association to Preserve the Heart of Kettle Valley claims the green space is invaluable, and is willing to pay to keep it.
“The developer, if he were to develop the lots would realize a certain profit,” says Stewart, “What we’re proposing, is that we just pay the developer up front.”
The Association members know that buying the land won’t come cheap — the estimate is between $5 and $8 million.
The group is considering fundraising and lobbying the city to help.
An online petition to save the park can be found online at Change.org.
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