There will be no more free rides for couples wanting to get married and hold their wedding reception in Gyro Park in downtown Osoyoos.
Following a presentation by Sarah Dynneson, a program supervisor for the Town of Osoyoos, council said they will be making changes to the current special event permit policy after Dynneson informed them more and more people were making applications to use Gyro Park to hold weddings.
Just last month in September, a wedding party of 600 people took over the park for what was supposed to be one day, said Dynneson.
Because there is no fee structure in place, the town didn’t charge a penny to use the park for the wedding, she said.
However, they started setting up the site on Friday and didn’t tear down the site until Sunday, meaning many members of the community didn’t have access to the public park for much of the whole weekend, she said.
“The Community Services department processes, on average, 30 special event permit applications per year,” said Dynneson. “Recently, we have received two special permit applications for weddings that require the use of the entire space at Gyro Park.
“The most recent application would require the space over the span of three days. These large events are reoccurring event requests that require prime park space for multiple days during prime park season.”
The town has also allowed individuals and groups to use park space without charge, provided they abide by bylaws and fill out a special event application form, said Dynneson.
Fees have been applied for equipment such as bleachers, tables and chairs, she said.
While many of the groups that submit a special event application and use the entire park space are doing so for public events like the Cactus Jalopies show and shine car show, other events such as private weddings are private events and, therefore, the park space is no longer available to the general public, she said.
“In addition, large events, public or private, tend to use equipment that has the potential to damage the park area,” she said. “Tents, for example, require staking and could damage irrigation lines or the grass. Most communities have a fee for the use of their park space, as well as a damage deposit.”
The time has come for council to have a clear policy direction on private use of park facilities and any related fees that should be charged, she said.
The City of Penticton has an hourly fee for private events in city parks and a damage deposit, while the Town of Oliver has an hourly and daily fee for functions in town parks.
Barry Romanko, the town’s chief administrative officer, said the huge wedding this past summer clearly indicates a need to have a policy about holding private events in public parks.
“We had nothing in place to charge them” and having 600 people using public washrooms did cause some problems, he said.
One of the recent special permit applications is for a wedding party of up to 300 to use Gyro Park next June, said Dynneson.
Coun. C.J. Rhodes said he has no issues with small weddings being held on the beach at Gyro Park, but he couldn’t support applications to hold large weddings in a popular public park over two or more days.
“I don’t like the idea of full days or multiple days,” he said. “I have no problem if it’s only a few hours.”
Mayor Sue McKortoff said council has to adopt a clear policy as it has become clear that more and more people will be applying to hold large weddings at Gyro Park free of charge if changes aren’t made.
“We need to charge a fee or we will be having weddings down there every day,” she said. “I really think we need to look at this carefully … and take a look at what other communities are doing. We need to take a very long look at this.”
Dynneson said she carefully noted the concerns of councillors and senior administration and will come back with recommendations in another report she will prepare for council in the next few weeks.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
