Osoyoos Desert Model Railroad is a family owned tourist attraction. From left Poul Pedersen, his wife Ulla and daughter Lotte Mendes appear in a file photo at the time of their 10th anniversary last year. (Richard McGuire file photo)
Poul Pedersen, whose family owns and operates the Osoyoos Desert Model Railroad, is greatly relieved that the tourist attraction can continue operating in the industrial park.
“I absolutely feel good,” said Pedersen. “I think we had a very positive reaction from council.”
Osoyoos town council gave third and final reading on Sept. 2 to a bylaw that allowed for site-specific rezoning of the property to allow an “indoor model railway tourist attraction.”
The land owned by Pedersen’s daughter Lotte Mendes was previously zoned M1 or General Industrial.
Pedersen said the tourist attraction, ranked sixth in the province among 1,700 tourist attractions by the website TripAdvisor, will continue to be upgraded.
“We are pleased that finally we got everything approved and secured because before it was a little up in the air because of the zoning situation,” Pedersen said.
The clarification also makes it possible in the future to transfer the model railroad to another owner if Pedersen finds he is no longer able to continue running it, he said.
Council held a public hearing on Aug. 12 at which two neighbours objected to the zoning change.
Their primary concerns were that it created a bad precedent if the tourist attraction was legalized after the fact and that commercial use could lead to undue nuisance complaints about neighbouring industrial activities.
Nonetheless, town staff recommended approval of the zoning change and council supported it because of the attraction’s importance to local tourism.
Pedersen said he understands the concerns of his two neighbours, though he’s pleased that council recognized the importance of the attraction.
“The town could-n’t really have sought to close us down because we see so many people,” he said, noting that last month visitors were up 13.5 per cent over last year, despite a 43 per cent increase last year over the previous year.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
