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Land on Island Way at Park Rill – subject of APC debate Tuesday

TO: Advisory Planning Commission
FROM: RDOS
DATE: July 17, 2012
RE: Crown Land referral/tenure
Purpose: To allow for the agricultural use of a former part of the KVR Folio: 3020.20C
Applicant: Inderjit & Harvinder Sandhu OCP: Public Corridor (PC) Zoning: Agriculture One (AG1)
Civic: 8915 378th Avenue, Electoral Area ‘C’ Legal: That part of Lot 1H, District Lot 2450s, SDYD, Plan 1729

Proposed Development:The Integrated Land Management Bureau (ILMB) of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRO) has received an application, through Front Counter BC, for a Crown land application for intensive agricultural purposes. Specifically, “this is an application for a Crown land tenure for Intensive Agriculture purposes, in the vicinity of Oliver over part of the Kettle Valley Railway adjacent to Lot 67 District Lot 2450s Similkameen Division Yale District Plan 2030 except: (1) parcels 2 & 4; (2) Plans A1274 and 30435. The Crown land parcel consists of an area 15 ha or less for the commercial production of fruits and/or vegetables. If the applicant is granted a Licence over Crown land, the applicant will cultivate the land to grow vegetables (an extension to their existing farmland).”

The actual amount of land under application is stated to be approximately 0.68 hectares (ha), while the proposed term of the lease could be “up to thirty years”.

Referral Requirements: The ILMB has referred this application to the Regional District in order that the RDOS provide comment. ILMB has advised that if no response is received within 30 calendar days from the date sent (which is listed as July 27, 2012), “the application and adjudication process will move ahead.”

Site Context:

The subject area is part of the former Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) right-of-way and is situated between Island Road and the applicants property at 8915 378th Avenue (Park Rill Road). The area is undeveloped, is situated within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) and is surrounded by properties currently under agricultural production.

Background:

Under the Electoral Area ‘C’ Oliver Rural Zoning Bylaw No. 2453, 2008, this particular section of the KVR is zoned Agriculture One (AG1), which allows for “agriculture” as a permitted use.

However, under the Electoral Area ‘C’ Oliver Rural Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 2452, 2008, the KVR north of the Town of Oliver has been designated as Public Corridor (PC).

According to the Town of Oliver’s 2009 Trail Master Plan:

During the early 1920’s to the mid 1940’s the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) constructed a portion of the Kettle Valley Railway from Okanagan Falls to Osoyoos. The rail line operated until 1977 and then the rails were removed from the right of way. In 1989, the Ministry of Transportation and Highways purchased a 1 kilometre section of the right of way near the north end of Osoyoos

Lake, and also a 1.5 km section through the Town of Oliver. In 1990, the provincial government, through BC Lands, acquired the remaining portions of the right of way (as a gift from CPR).

Analysis: The proposal to use this land for agricultural purposes is seen to be consistent with the AG designation of the property under the OCP and AG1 zoning, which allows for “agriculture” as a permitted use.

However, the KVR right-of-way is designated as Public Corridor “in order to protect options for future use as a continuous traffic, utility and/ or recreation corridor. The context for review and referrals for future use of the Kettle Valley Railway will be the ‘Management Strategy for Abandoned Right-of-way of Kettle Valley Railway’, KVR Planning Committee, 2000” (OCP Section 15.2.4.3).

While this Management Strategy no longer appears to be on file, significant strategic work has subsequently been conducted in relation to the KVR in the South Okanagan, and, more specifically, trails in Electoral Area ‘C’ and the Town of Oliver.

For instance, the Town’s 2009 “Oliver + Area Trails Master Plan” includes a “Terms of Reference for the proposed Kettle Valley Railway”, which states that “the Rails to Trails & Parks Committee will secure tenure on the portions of the Kettle Valley Railway that are within the boundaries of the Regional District.”

The Plan also contains a reference to a 2003 study entitled “Management Strategy: Abandoned KVR Right of Way in South Okanagan” which suggested that “the allocation of the KVR lands should be “based on societal needs, with the first priority being given to Provincial needs, the second community needs and the third to those of private parties.”

To date, the focus has been the Okanagan River Channel Trail as the principle hiking and biking trail in this area and, while the KVR remains disused and under-developed between the Town of Oliver and the northern extent of the Electoral Area boundary, it is anticipated that this corridor could be used to form a looped network in the area in future.

For these reasons, and in light of the Public Corridor designation under the OCP and the intent to retain the KVR for future recreational/public use purposes, Administration does not favour the leasing of portions of the KVR to private interests.

Administrative Recommendation:

THAT the APC recommends to the RDOS that the subject development application is not supported.

Options:

THAT the APC recommends to the RDOS that the subject development application is supported.
THAT the APC recommends to the RDOS that the subject development application is supported with the following conditions:
THAT the APC recommends to the RDOS that the subject development application is not supported.

Submitted by Christopher Garrish MCIP Planner