Neighbours who live on Wren Place wanted assurances from Town of Osoyoos council Monday during a public hearing that this beautiful pond would be protected if the 28-unit Richter Property subdivision proceeds. (Keith Lacey photo)
A small group of Osoyoos neighbours who live in close proximity to a pond that is home to many species of fish, birds and wildlife voiced their many concerns to Town of Osoyoos council about a proposed new subdivision they worry will infringe on their quiet lifestyle.
Several residents who live on Wren Place – a small eight-home subdivision located between the new fire hall being built on 74th Avenue and the Baptist Church west of Hwy. 97 – showed up Monday afternoon during a public hearing in town council chambers to detail their concerns about a proposed 28-unit housing development planned to be built next door to them.
Only a couple of weeks ago, the town applied to have more than three acres of land removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) by the Agricultural Land Commission, which has tentatively supported a proposal by the Town of Osoyoos to build the new 300-unit Southeast Meadowlark subdivision.
The first phase of that project would be construction of 24 single-family homes and two duplexes on what the town has called The Richter Property, which is not far from Wren Place and the idyllic pond.
Two spokespersons for the Wren Place neighbourhood – Isla Petreny-Mackenzie and Haley Bourne – voiced their serious concerns about increased traffic, protection of the idyllic pond that surrounds their neighbourood, an inadequate “buffer zone” that would separate their homes from the new subdivision and access to Highway 97.
If the ALC removes the land from the ALR, the Richter Property development makes up the remainder of the land purchased by the Town of Osoyoos to build the new fire hall.
The new development would include a new road being constructed from 74th Avenue and joining up with the current road in the Wren Place subdivision through to Hwy. 97, which is accessed from the top of a hill up from the eight homes.
Petreny-Mackenzie said she and her neighbours are very concerned the new subdivision would upset their “beautiful and very quiet” neighbourhood that is surrounded by beautiful birds, amphibians and numerous species of animals.
If the development must proceed, she and her neighbours don’t want a new road hooking up to Wren Place road, she said.
“Our first choice is not to extend the road to Wren Place … keep it separate and reserve the uniqueness of our area,” she said.
Under original design plans, some of the homes in the new subdivision would tower over her home and take away from her family’s quiet enjoyment of their home and property, she said.
“The houses would look over us and completely dominate us,” she said.
Her biggest concern is maintaining the integrity and beauty of the large pond located near her home as this pond has been home to numerous fish species, birds, amphibians, reptiles and other creatures for decades, said Petreny-Mackenzie.
She suggested the town could create a “mini nature reserve” to protect the pond for generations to come.
“It really is a special pond,” she said. “We have the support of many residents who have never used the pond.”
Bourne said her biggest concern was the safety of her children as building 28 new units next door to Wren Place would result in a dramatic increase in traffic.
One proposed slope near her home would see vehicles barreling down at a high rate of speed and thinking about the impact of this on her children has led to sleepless nights, she said.
“Those vehicles would swoop down in front of my front yard,” she said.
Alain Cunningham, the town’s director of planning and development, said the Ministry of Transportation has wanted direct access to Wren Place from Hwy. 97 to be shut off for some time, but he will do everything in his power to represent the interests of neighbours as this project moves forward.
The town convinced the ministry to not close off direct access to Wren Place from the highway several years ago and he’s confident he can convince them once again, said Cunningham.
The town would also install stop signs to ensure traffic moved at a very slow pace once the development proceeds, said Cunningham.
He knows how much the pond adjacent to Wren Place means to current homeowners and many other nature lovers and the town has every intention of taking whatever steps necessary to preserve the environmental and natural integrity of the pond and surrounding area, said Cunningham.
“We would treat this area as a riparian zone … we would apply the same rigorous rules as if this (pond) was on the (Osoyoos) lake,” said Cunningham.
Bourne said if direct access to Hwy. 97 is blocked by the ministry and she was forced to have to travel along the new road that would be built for the new subdivision, she would sell her home and move with her family to Penticton, where she works.
“But I would like to live the rest of my life in Osoyoos and raise my children here,” she said.
The ministry has the only authority to close off a road leading to a provincial highway and he and his staff will make it very clear closing access to the highway is unnecessary and unwanted, said Cunningham.
Coun. Mike Campol thanked Bourne and Petreny-Mackenzie for their presentations, saying their information was very informative and will be strongly considered by council in future discussions about the development of the entire Southeast Meadowlark proposal.
Council passed a resolution to “carefully consider all public input before proceeding to consider third reading” supporting the motion to ask the ALC to remove the land for the Richter Property development from the ALR.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
