The fight over the gate at Kelowna’s Eldorado hotel has come to an end with a plan to keep it open so the larger community can access the boardwalk it intersects.
The dispute between the hotel and the City of Kelowna started in 2021 when the city asked that the Eldorado stop blocking access to the walkway along the shores of Okanagan Lake. Hotel officials claimed they were doing so because of COVID-19 health orders, and at that time the courts sided with them.
Then the City of Kelowna went back to court to get a permanent injunction to prevent the Hotel Eldorado from restricting future access to the hotel boardwalk and to some degree, they got what they wanted, with the gate being opened when the restaurant it could access was closed.
In a decision this week, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton didn’t issue a permanent injunction, noting that the hotel had indicated there would be no unauthorized closures of public access going forward, but upheld the statutory right-of-way registered on the property in 2000.
Rudolf Heider, director of hospitality for Argus Properties which owns the Hotel Eldorado, says they will comply with the court ruling though, not without reservations.
“Throughout this process, we have always been driven by a fundamental concern for the health and safety of our hotel guests, staff and members of the public using the boardwalk in front of the hotel, ” Heider said.
“As the court recognized, this was an ongoing challenge as we adjusted to the impact of the global pandemic and needed to comply with mandatory public health orders from Dr. Bonny Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer. That said, safety concerns remain.”
Heider this decision clarifies the legal status of the boardwalk and allows the parties to move forward.
“We will of course comply with the court’s decision as we have from the beginning. That said, the safety issue remains. The boardwalk terminates on the south end at the city boat launch, which over the years has been a source of constant construction and maintenance. We continue to believe accessing the boardwalk at the boat launch is inherently unsafe.”
Heider also said allowing e-bikes and other motorized methods of transportation on the boardwalk is unsafe for pedestrians, hotel guests and staff.
The Hotel Eldorado has been a part of Kelowna’s history since 1926.