By Sebastian Kanally
Osoyoos Town Council voted to proceed with the approval process for Fernandez Fruit Market at 4305 Highway 3 East and Larose Winery at 3719 62nd Avenue, to be annexed by the town.
Both properties are seeking to be included in the town’s boundaries for access to municipal services such as water and sewer.
The properties are in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), and are zoned Agricultural One (AG1); the town will not amend the zoning if the boundary expansion to include these two parcels of land goes forward.
In addition to this, the report highlights “no additional costs will be borne by the current Town of Osoyoos residents.”
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) addressed this issue at their council meeting on Jan 5, 2023 and submitted their approval of the recommendation to expand.
Osoyoos’ approval means that “the process will proceed unless at least ten per cent of eligible electors submit a signed Elector Response Form to Town Hall no later than 4 p.m. on Monday, February 27, 2023 demanding a referendum,” the report noted.
This boundary expansion request has been going on for close to two years. In February 2021, the Town received a request for the town boundaries to expand and include four properties: 4275 62nd Ave, 3719 62nd Ave, 4280 Highway 3, and 4305 Highway 3.
The Province notified the Administration that the town could not proceed with the boundary extension of the four parcels above because two of the four parcels are located within the Osoyoos Irrigation District.
Council then amended the 2021 East Side Boundary Extension by removing the two properties (4275 62nd Avenue and 4280 Highway 3). The requested boundary expansion is now only for the two properties mentioned.
Elector Response Forms are available from Town Hall, 8707 Main Street, Osoyoos, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday excluding statutory holidays.
