Property owners at Casa del Lago are upset with a proposed bylaw change that would affect their ability to moor boats at their dock. Several of them attended a public hearing about amending the Foreshore and Lake Zoning bylaw. (Contributed photo)
A group of property owners who own units at the Casa del Lago condominium complex on Cottonwood Drive in Osoyoos is very upset with a proposed change to the town’s foreshore and lake zoning bylaw that would affect their ability to moor their boats near the large dock outside the complex.
Several owners of units at Casa del Lago attended a public hearing about amending the current Foreshore and Lake Zoning bylaw in Osoyoos.
The owners were objecting to a proposed change in the current bylaw that would force them to use boat lifts within half a metre of the large pier that is located outside of their condo complex on Osoyoos Lake.
Casa del Lago has 185 units that were built in 2004 on Cottonwood Drive on a 2.8-hectare parcel with 146 metres of frontage on Osoyoos Lake.
Bryon Karren, the current president of the Casa del Lago strata corporation, presented a written submission to council asking them to reconsider a proposed change relating to the use of boat lifts near the pier outside the complex.
“This lake frontage adds greatly to the desirability of our property and we strongly desire to maintain the current multi-use of the lakefront for the benefit of all owners,” said Karren. “The total property tax assessment of our strata units was about $48 million in 2016.
“We currently have a dock (with a water license) that extends 60 metres into the lake, which includes the area under the dock, plus three metres on each side. This dock is a common asset kept for general access for all residents.
“We have about 50 owners with watercraft and we have been working with the province to obtain a water license for their moorage needs. They are currently moored using boat lifts, but not allowed by strata bylaw to impede on our water license area, which keeps them at least three metres from our dock.
“We regard our property as in compliance with the current Osoyoos bylaw subject to the grandfathering of our 60-metre dock, which predates this bylaw and was constructed under the development permit for the property prior to 2014.”
The proposed changes to this bylaw that would require boat owners to have a boat lift either attached or within half a metre of the dock is not something that the provincial regulations mandate, said Karren.
“We have been working with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources for several years to obtain approval for a moorage facility involving freestanding lifts,” he said. “At no time has the ministry suggested that their regulations would not allow such a facility.”
Implementing this regulation would negatively effect the ability of hundreds of residents in Osoyoos who own property on the lake, he said.
“In addition to our lifts, there are many others on Osoyoos Lake that would not comply,” he said. “The gentle slope of Osoyoos Lake makes it entirely possible to have a boat lift in the lake and not install a dock. Not having a dock means less infrastructure in the lake impeding natural flows.”
He and numerous other owners at Casa del Lago do not believe that science supports the proposed recommendation, he said.
“We assume that the town’s concern arises with owners accessing their boats by walking in the lake,” he said. “We believe that this concern is unfairly applied given that there are no other restrictions with swimming or other foot access into the lake.
“If, for some reason, the area where we currently have lifts becomes vacant, it too will be a swim area.”
In order to comply with the proposed change, boat owners would need to construct at least two rows of cross docks parallel to the shoreline, each up to 73 metres in length, he said.
“At other locations where this has been done, the effect of the docks as large breakwaters is observable and represents a major disruption to the natural flow of the lake,” he said. “Having these docks permanently in the water likely has a far greater effect than foot access for the boating season.”
Regulations about boat lifts and docks should be left in the hands of ministry officials who have more resources to properly evaluate the environmental effects of boat installations, he said.
“We respectfully request that the boat lifts not be modified to require attachment to dock or be within .5 metres of a dock,” he said. “Alternately, at least postpone this one amendment pending Casa del Lago commissioning an environmental impact report on the two sides of this argument,” he said.
Derek Callfas, who owns two units at Casa del Lago, said implementing this change would have “significant impact” on dozens of people in his strata and hundreds of Osoyoos residents.
It would also greatly devalue property values for those affected by the change, he said.
Rupert Weiser, another Casa del Lago property owner, agreed that property values would go down significantly if this proposed change is implemented.
Dilys Huang, a senior planner with the town, said she will take all of the comments presented during the public hearing and include them in a report to be prepared for council in October.
Council will discuss all proposed changes to the bylaw once it receives Huang’s report.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
