Process going well.

Developer Mike Mortimer believes the public hearing on his rezoning application went very well.
Mortimer has applied to rezone his Gateway Marina property from Commercial Marina (CM) to Commercial Residential (CR) in order to develop a ten-unit resort residence. The units will be priced at $500,000 and up.
I thought the hearing went very well. I was happy to see there was support out there for development, said Mortimer.
Although he heard some opposition at the hearing, Mortimer believes his project will be good for Osoyoos, and in particular, good in that location because a rezoning to CR would mean a marina would no longer be near a number of residential units.
The property is across the street from Oasis RV Resort, and a few of those property owners have written letters opposing the rezoning due to concerns about losing their views of the lake and about losing a marina on that side of the lake.
From a view point of view, it doesn't matter, Mortimer explained.
Most houses are at least two levels and then have nine foot ceilings, so the reality is they're almost as high as this building is, which will be 40 feet. You can't not block views, unfortu-nately. Anybody that builds on that lot is going to build a minimum of 20 feet, and even at one level, you block views.rnHe added that, with land costs as they are, the builder needs to maximize the develop-ment to recover a profit. He also said he has support from many of the people who would be most affected by the development.
Most know some kind of development would eventually go in there, he said.
As far as the opposition from the Oasis RV Resort owners, Mortimer feels that the majority are happy to see a marina shut down and a reduction in boat traffic.
Mortimer's full page ad of Rumours and Facts, which ran in the November 9 edition of the Osoyoos Times, said the town has an opportunity to close down one of the most potentially hazardous environmental sites that has had underground gas and oil storage tanks plus gasoline pumps close to the water's edge… but Mortimer said the site has passed the two-stage environ-mental process and is not contaminated.
Once I received that assessment, it was at that stage I decided I would never allow petro-chemicals on that property. In this day and age it's just too environmentally dangerous to risk having some spillage, he said.
He added that the people probably most impacted by the marina were the Wildmans, who live next door to the property and had concerns about a gas tank explosion. They also mentioned they had noticed spillages on the lake over the years. The Wildmans are in favour of Mortimer's develop-ment and are glad to see the marina shut down.
You can't tell me that anybody across the street would not agree that getting rid of the marina is the right move. When they look at the whole environmental picture, and the explosive nature of the picture, and the traffic issues, it's a no-brainer.
But there is still a question as to whether the Town of Osoyoos will determine the need for another marina to service boaters in the area.
That's entirely up to the Town of Osoyoos. They would like to have a marina where the boat launch ramps are. But there are two places to gas up on the lake already, and only four places to fill your car up in town, he pointed out.
If Mortimer gets approval to rezone, he estimates it will be about a year before his project would be completed.
At this point he hasn't addressed the prospect of applying for a dock once the development is completed. He added that there are different types of docks, some of which are removable and don't require a permit.
If I had my say, I would prefer not to, but the owners will have to decide for themselves when the time comes.rnAt the end of the day, Mortimer said that the winner in the whole public hearing exchange process was Osoyoos.
I still need second, third and fourth reading. I'm a long way from getting my development permit. This is a process that's quite expensive to the developer and there's always a chance he might not get what he's asking for. I think, all in all, due to the way it was handled, everybody got out and said whether they were for or against it in a civil manner. The process is in place, so let's move on, he said.