The yurt displayed above is located in the 2300 block of Allendale Rd in Okanagan Falls. It was erected without proper permits and has been occupied.

The owner of the land is an absentee landlord and the RDOS has had difficulty making contact.

At the Thursday Regional Board meeting, directors decided to place a notice on title for each illegal yurt but will work with the tenants and an agent for the owner in correcting the permitting problem that have existed for five years.

One tenant, Jill Ward told CBC radio that she, her husband and three children, aged 6, 8, and 9 live in the main yurt as a temporary housing option with a compost toilet. The renters are willing to pay the $500 permit application fee. Ward says the requirement for a septic field could cost $50 thousand and it’s a complicated process to comply.

Ward said “if it was easier more people would live in yurts”. The family is attempting to live off the land in the remote but beautiful location above the valley floor near a large winery and vineyard.