By Lexi McFarlane, Times Chronicle

Osoyoos’ growth has motivated the Town to take a closer look at what their green spaces will need, both now and in the future, to continue to meet residents’ needs.

The Town’s Parks and Trails Master Plan, presented earlier this month by Gerald Davis, the Town’s Director of Community Services, and Terry Myles, of ISL Engineering and Land Services, takes into consideration many factors.

Those include an aging population, increased tourism, and diversified interests of both newer and more longtime residents. Among the many things considered was how well Osoyoos is set up with its parks system compared to other municipalities in the South Okanagan.

Using an average for every 1,000 residents, Osoyoos outpaces localities such as Creston, Peachland, and Summerland in having soccer fields, baseball diamonds, tennis courts, and beach volleyball spaces. Osoyoos is also the only community included in the chart, besides Qualicum Beach, to have a lawn bowling facility.

It was noted, though, that Osoyoos may find itself lacking in playground space in the near-future. Additionally, there may be a need to convert excess sports fields to accommodate the rise in other activities. A recent example, advanced during the same meeting, would be the recently-approved addition of a cricket pitch to the Desert Park racetrack infield.

Eight different projects were referenced as being of significance, with the report stating they would “address current needs, plan for future growth, and ensure outdoor spaces remain accessible, inclusive, and well-maintained”.

The West Bench Complex, which has become the Town’s pickleball hotspot in recent years, would see upgrades in the short, medium, and long-term to address concerns voiced by both pickleball players, and other park users alike.

Short-term upgrades would remedy immediate issues, including re-orientation of the pickleball courts to avoid players facing the sun directly, and re-grading the area to funnel drainage away from the court areas. Longer-term improvements include adding water taps and canopies to optimize the park’s use during hot weather, and additional pickleball courts to meet the requests of the community. The Desert Pickleball Club is one group that has already requested additional courts to keep up with the burgeoning demand.

What Osoyoos would be seeking to avoid is a membership cap for the Desert Pickleball Club, something the City of Penticton has already had to implement. Roughly 160 members currently make up the Club, first formed in 2015, taking into account an estimated 8 percent increase from 2022 numbers. Unlike Penticton, where Club and public used is very close to evenly split, the Desert Club only receives 35 percent of available hours for the courts, hence the recommendation of additional courts should membership reach 250 in count.

Most of the upgrades that both Southeast Meadowlark Park and Kinsmen Park would receive in this plan are forecast for the short- and medium-term. Immediate improvements for Kinsmen Park centre around accessibility, with playground equipment and surfacing, and accessible pathways and picnic tables, being priorities. A longer-range goal would see the existing soccer field converted into a dog park, with corresponding enhancements such as fencing and a water station being added.

Southeast Meadowlark Park improvements would preserve the natural environments, and designate access points as well as feature unintrusive trail paths. A neighbourhood playground would also be installed away from the kettle pond.

Mayor Sue McKortoff was especially eager to see progress be made on Southeast Meadowlark Park, which she reminded has been looked at for the past eight years.

“And we keep putting it off,” McKortoff lamented.

“Can I assume, now that the pile of dirt is gone, that we can move forward on that project?”

Davis confirmed that the Town would indeed be moving forward with plans for Southeast Meadowlark.

“Director Madsen was at the meeting as well for a pre-construction (review),” Davis said, referring to Tyler Madsen, the Director of Operational Services.

The other immediate parks focus is the Town’s skateboard park, which may see the addition of a bike park to it, pending re-allocation of existing staff housing on Town-owned adjacent land. Previously, a bike park did exist in the West Bench Complex, before it was ultimately replaced with the existing dog park. The Osoyoos Bike Club+ has been active in advocating for a new bike park since the removal of the previous one, and would foster community bonding as well as prevent conflicts with skateboarders.

Short-term reviews of land-use considerations would determine its feasibility, and the potential transition would take place in the early-2030’s. The plan proposes Jack Shaw Park as the alternate site for a BMX/bike park should the skateboard park plan not be carried out.

Both Osoyoos Park and Desert Park are more oriented towards a longer-term vision, in the master plan, with both requiring consultation and design work to be completed first. The lone exception would be necessary repairs to current Desert Park facilities in the next couple of years.

Beyond that, the Osoyoos Park plan calls for a collaborative effort with the Selah residential development being built, and for its own finished product to reflect the landscape and needs of the area once the development sees occupancy. Meanwhile, Desert Park would be evaluated as a future “community recreation hub”, with existing facilities and uses such as horse training studied for feasibility, before redevelopment begins in the 2030’s.

Councillor Myers Bennett hoped to see a finished Desert Park product that considered better placement for the proposed lawn bowling and pickleball courts.

“Where you show the lawn bowling being right next to the pickleball courts; I don’t think that works,” Bennett said. “I don’t think people that are quietly out there lawn bowling want a bunch of (noise).”

Conservation areas and the future trails network also received inclusion in the plan, though the trails network has also been previously spotlighted through the Osoyoos Active Transportation Network Plan.

The Transportation Network Plan is currently seeing implementation of its priority measures, such as trail enhancement to improve quality and address missing links in the system. Additional wayfinding signage, crossing improvements, and wellness stations are also projected to be completed in the short-term. The short-term will see each conservation area that has been identified be named as well, with education on those areas to follow. Full completion of the trails network and conservation areas are projected for the long-term.

Adding a disc golf park next to West Bench Complex was also considered as part of this plan, given Osoyoos does not currently have a disc golf course, but ultimately advised against due to several constraints. Disc golf holes would cross active trails and bike paths, reduce the size of the neighbouring dog park, put pressure on already-limited parking, and put players at risk of being hit by stray golf balls from the nearby golf course. Nearby options such as the disc golf course in Oliver were touted as better options.

The master plan was presented to Council for review, and will be discussed again at a future Committee of the Whole meeting.