The growing need for a new regional transit facility proved more important to Kelowna City Council Monday afternoon than protecting farmland.
The council voted 7-2 to ask the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) to allow the city to use an agricultural property south of UBC Okanagan for a new regional transit yard. The city acquired the property in 2017 with the intention of using it for transit, and the official parish plan has included the area for industrial use since the mid-1990s.
The land is currently still in the Agricultural Reserve, but Mayor Colin Basran said industrial use has been discussed with the ALC in the past.
“That doesn’t surprise you,” he said. “I would much rather that the city be in control of this land and do something that is good for our environment, such as building a transit facility on it. Who knows how many private industrial companies could have been on this land? “
The new bus barn would be a much-needed upgrade to the city’s current BC Transit facility on Hardy Road, which city officials say does not have the space to meet local needs as the city continues to grow.
While the growing need for transit was enough to get most city councils to cast the rare vote for the destruction of agricultural land, it was not enough for all. Councilors Mohini Singh and Charlie Hodge voted against the motion.
“I do not philosophically agree with agricultural land being given up for development,” said Coun. Mohini Singh mentioned some agrologists she had spoken to who said that with some remediation, the land would be “high quality arable land”.
Juxtaposing Singh’s philosophical opposition, Hodge took the idea of putting buses on farmland much more literally.
“You can’t eat buses,” said Hodge. “You can try, but they’re not very tasty.”
However, the city does not neglect the effects of agricultural land removal. As the project progresses, $ 600,000 will be allocated to farming initiatives, including an agricultural reclamation fund, ag-specific planning resource, signage to remind residents of active farmland, and improved buffering around the proposed transit facility.
The application is now sent to the ALC. If approved, it will be submitted to the city council for rededication and zoning permits.
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Agricultural Land ReserveBC TransitCity of KelownDevelopmentOkanaganTransit
