Kelowna City Council has voted to amend the bylaw that governs agritourism accommodations.
In the past, farmers who wanted to build RV Parks on their properties could simply apply to have their properties rezoned.
Now agri-tourism accommodation has been removed as an outright use of farm land.
Farmers can still apply, but applications will be looked at on a case-by-case basis. The city will also have more power to determine where the parks can be built on a given piece of land and control the number of agritourism accommodations in any given area.
“Bona fide farmers can still apply for that type of land use but under a lot more specific text amendment,” Kelowna’s planning manager Todd Cashin said.
Cashin said the city is having problems with agritourism RV parks following the rules; some offering too many RV spots and letting people live on site year-round.
“It’s turning into low income housing on farm land and people are living there all year,” Cashin said.
The city has taken five agritourism RV park operators to court over rule infractions.
Robert Hanington lives next door to one of these locations.
He says he agrees with the change in the bylaw, but wonders if it will do enough to keep the RV operators abiding by the rules.
“It will certainly do better on the planning stages of things,” Hanington said. “I’m still not convinced about enforcement.”