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Princeton motel may not be able to rebuild following November’s flood

Click to play video: 'Princeton motel forced to tear down cabins'
Princeton motel forced to tear down cabins
Several months after a massive flood tore through the town of Princeton, a family is still trying to salvage what they can of their property. As our Taya Fast reports, the family owns a motel and says they are being forced to remove most of the motel's cabins. – Jun 29, 2022

Several months after a massive flood tore through the town of Princeton, B.C., a family is still trying to salvage what they can of their property.

Gordon Daw and his wife have owned the Riverside Cabins for almost 17 years and said that the flood caused $1.7 million in damage.

“That’s a tough one because you’ve never really been through something like that,” said Daw. “You go to bed one night, you get up the next day and everything is gone.”

Daw said they are hoping to rebuild but he has been told to tear down over half of the cabins.

“So, they said anything that has been touched by the [dyke] they have to remove, so they want everything on this side gone,” Daw said, pointing to the cabins closest to the Tulameen River.
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“They said at the time that these could stay but now I hear only six of those can stay and without having any help or knowing what I can do.”

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The tear-down comes with a hefty price tag. Daw estimates that each cabin could cost upwards of $70,000.

“We don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what my rights are here. It sounds like the town’s [going to] make me destroy most of it and I guess that’s at my expense,” said Daw.
Click to play video: 'Princeton mayor says flood recovery efforts have stalled'
Princeton mayor says flood recovery efforts have stalled

The mayor of Princeton, Spencer Coyne, said the cabins were up to code prior to the flood but that is not the case now.

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“Unfortunately, because of the building codes, when you go to rebuild, you have to meet current building codes and those buildings are so old that they predate most of the building codes today,” said Coyne.

Coyne went on to say that the cabins are too close to the river.

“Unfortunately – he is right on the river and there is a 30-metre area that the riparian is in. And he’s unfortunately within those 30 meters,” said Coyne.

Coyne added that Daw needs to get a riparian study before he can potentially move forward with rebuilding the motel.

Click to play video: 'Princeton, B.C. in need of long-term housing solutions amid flood recovery'
Princeton, B.C. in need of long-term housing solutions amid flood recovery

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