— Town considering building permit for a new structure —
(OSOYOOS TIMES — April 18, 2007) —
By Lawrence McMahenrnOsoyoos Times
The Osoyoos Bottle Depot, operating out of a makeshift building since an arsonist destroyed the original Depot last August 10, could be flattened again in the near future.
The Town of Osoyoos has ordered the owners to immediately tear down the temporary wooden structure they currently run the Bottle Depot in, saying it is a fire and safety hazard.
Owner Sandra Palmateer and husband John Menard say they're frustrated because they have wanted to rebuild a new state-of-the-art Bottle Depot on their site at 8305 “ 72nd Avenue but have been hampered by the slow pace of approvals by Town Hall.
They basically are shutting us down, Menard says.
They brought a Fire Marshall over (last Thursday) morning and said it's a fire hazard and the Town can't allow the liability. Menard adds the officials told him if he doesn't tear down his building soon, the Town will bulldoze it and send me the bill.
He says the Town has suggested he use either ATCO trailers or large tents to run the Bottle Depot in until his planned new building is constructed.
That won't work, Menard says, because he needs to be able to operate a forklift and store large quantities of bottles.
Town Planner Alain Cunningham confirms that Palmateer and Menard have been ordered to take down the current building, which he notes was built without a building permit after the original Bottle Depot was destroyed last summer.
Cunningham says the owners had been told to take it down some time ago, and the deadline for them to act has passed.
He says the Town's building inspector and a Penticton fire inspector visited the Bottle Depot Thursday, and the fire inspector concurs with our concerns about the safety of the building.rnIt's really in the hands of the owners now, Cunningham says.
Menard says he has been trying to work with Town officials since last year to get approval to build the new Bottle Depot. It took many weeks late last year to get approval from the Osoyoos Design Advisory Committee and from Town Council for the design of the proposed new building and the landscaping around it.
Now, Menard says, the Town is being slow in giving him a building permit.
We've given them blueprints, and we're ready to go, he says.
But Cunningham says the Town has only recently received the application for the new building, and officials are now looking at it.
Menard is frustrated.
I wanted to start building last year, but they stalled me.rnHe says first, last fall, officials tried to convince he and Palmateer to move the Bottle Depot out to the Industrial Park off Highway 3 west of Town. But they refused, saying that would severely hurt their business and be far less convenient for most of their customers.
Then the design committee put them through weeks of discussions, including a detailed landscaping plan complete with the Latin names of the plants to be grown around the building.
And now the problem with the temporary building.
Menard says it seems the Town wants the Bottle Depot out of Osoyoos.
But it's a public service. If we shut down, this town will be screwed. Two semi's a week leave town (full of returned bottles from the Bottle Depot), and it can be four or five semi's a week in the summer. The grocery stores can't handle it.rnMenard says he and Palmateer can have their new building built in two months, once they get the permit “ and it will be the most modern Bottle Depot in British Columbia, with stainless steel counters, computers, and with everyone inside.rnHe's hoping for quick approval of the building permit and he is not sure what he will do about the order to tear down.
It's totally ridiculous. I'm really sick of it.
As reported in the Osoyoos Times last week, an investigation by the B.C. Fire Commissioner's Office concluded that arson was the cause of the fire that destroyed the Bottle Depot.
The report from the Fire Commissioner's Office investigator says physical evidence at the scene clearly shows that the fire was set in the early morning hours of August 10 by someone who entered through the front door, sprinkled a liquid accelerant around the office/lounge area near the front of the building, and lit the fire with a match or lighter.
Despite a quick response from four trucks and 25 members of the Osoyoos Fire Department, the fire quickly engulfed the building.
Palmateer has operated the bottle-return business in Osoyoos for 15 years, and at the current location for six years.
