By Lyonel Doherty
A bigger city approach to a small town issue is not sitting well with two commercial property owners in Oliver.
Dan Friesen and Dale Dodge, owners of 291 Fairview Road (Remedy’s RX lot), recently approached Town council for a long-term lease of the parking area (on the east side) that is owned by the municipality. The two men have tried to purchase the parking lot, but the Town refused to sell (because the irrigation canal runs underneath the property).
The Town had an appraisal done on the lot and sent the property owners a preliminary lease agreement. But Friesen disputed the overall assessment, which he noted was 60 per cent higher than market value. This is because the appraiser the Town used compared this lot to a parking lot in Kelowna, Friesen pointed out, suggesting that is an unfair comparison.
“We all know that Oliver and Kelowna cannot be fairly compared with each other . . . we believe the current assessed value for 2017 of $135,700 is a fair assessment,” Friesen said.
He also disputed a $7,200 “commencement fee” that the appraiser included in his report, saying he has never heard of this before and would never charge his clients this fee.
“We ask that the commencement fee be eliminated because you would be setting a dangerous precedent which is handcuffing and potentially discouraging local businesses,” Friesen said.
Diane Vaykovich, the Town’s corporate officer, said they used an appraiser from Kelowna to arrive at the market rate.
Mayor Ron Hovanes said the Town does not administer commencement fees in its leases. “I’ve never heard of it,” he said.
Council agreed that it would review the appraisal and allow further negotiation.
