North Okanagan gymnastics club gets conditional approval

A rhythmic gymnastics club near Vernon was granted an exception to zoning rules Wednesday night, giving supporters who packed a public meeting the decision they were hoping for.

The Okanagan Rhythmic Gymnastics Club, owned by a former Olympian, became mired in a zoning controversy after officials from the Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) noticed it wasn’t following zoning rules.

Wednesday night regional district area directors agreed to make an exception to the zoning rules to allow the gym to stay in its current location, in a rural area near Vernon, if it meets a number of conditions.

Club supporters were celebrating.

“We are very pleased. We were concerned because facilities like this in the Okanagan are hard to come by,” said Adelle Munk, whose daughter goes to the gym.

“The possibility of it being shut down was just extremely upsetting.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The possibility of it being shut down was just extremely upsetting."

However, before the gym is completely in the clear, the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) must sign off on non-farm use on the property.

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“It has the full support of a huge part of the community and that will be sent to the ALC. I think it would be extremely unlikely that they will turn it down,” said RDNO chair Bob Fleming.

There will also have to be support for the gym at a public hearing held after the ALC decision. However, if the number of backers who packed the RDNO meeting Wednesday night is any indication of the gym’s support, that’s unlikely to pose a problem for the gym.

“I’m excited to have the support of so many people and to have the support of the [regional district] board going in towards the Agricultural Land Commission,” said gym owner Camille Martens.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I'm excited to have the support of so many people and to have the support of the [regional district] board going in towards the Agricultural Land Commission," said gym owner Camille Martens.

The third condition is that the RDNO wants verification that the facility meets the provincial building code for structures used for assembly purposes.

“That’s a higher test. Our schools are built to that standard. If you have children involved, you hope the buildings are up to that standard,” said RDNO director Mike Macnabb.

Martens said the building is safe and she believes that if upgrades are needed to bring the building up to code, they will be minor.

Read More: Zoning dispute puts north Okanagan gymnastics club’s future in question

The gym has been operating in its current location since 2009. The RDNO didn’t become aware the club was not complying with zoning rules until it visited the site after a complaint by a regional district employee in 2015.

From Macnabb’s perspective, it doesn’t matter who complained, only whether the complaint was valid.

“As soon as we were aware that the individual had made the complaint he was pulled out of any further communication or activity to do with this particular property,” Macnabb said.

The gym will be able to continue operating while its owners work to comply with the conditions set out by the regional district.