– Location at corner of Highways 3 & 97 questioned –

(OSOYOOS TIMES — September 23, 2006) –

Town Council will hold a public consultation meeting from 4-7 p.m., Thursday, September 14 in the Sonora Community Centre to hear the public's reaction to a proposal to build a major new seniors care home on the corner of Highways 3 and 97.
At the September 5 Council meeting, Mayor John Slater and all four councillors expressed reservations about the proposal from Baltic Properties and Interior Health to locate the facility on the parcel of land on the southwest corner of the major intersection, across from Buy-Low Foods and between the Ridge Pub and Kobau Lanes bowling alley.
They also slammed Interior Health for acting unilaterally “ but in the end, councillors said they want to hear the public's wishes for the land and the project.
The three-acre lot, currently an orchard, was sold by owner Frank Stariha at the end of June to Baltic Properties, which was pursuing its bid for an Interior Health contract for provision of a 114-bed facility in Osoyoos to replace the current 52-bed Sagebrush Lodge.
Osoyoos officials have now received confirmation that Interior Health has awarded the facility contract to Baltic, and the application has been made to the town's Planning Department for an amendment to the local Official Community Plan (OCP) that will allow for rezoning of the land from the current Highway Commercial to Public and Private Institutional.
Mayor Slater and Councillors Dick Flintoft and Stu Wells told the Council meeting they're upset with the high-handed way Interior Health has handled this project.
When Interior Health came to our meeting (in February), they indicated they would be in consultation with local Council and staff “ and to this date ¦ I have yet to see any correspondence from them in any way, shape or form, Flintoft said.
Wells agreed. I have a feeling we're being pushed around by Interior Health once again. It seems to me that they would like to be part of our planning department, by awarding this piece of property to the purveyor of the care facility, Wells said.
Slater said, Interior Health hasn't contacted us once over this issue. They've, in my opinion, dropped the ball on this ¦ all of a sudden, they're now part of our planning staff.rnWells said he believes the whole area west of Highway 97, between Highway 3 and 62nd Avenue, should have a Master Plan. He's worried that if piecemeal development is allowed to proceed in that area, we're going to end up with a real hodgepodge.rnThis is big. This is a whole new part of town that's opening up, and it needs a Master Plan, he said.
Councillor Ted Cronmiller said, I think the property is going to be a really contentious issue and I think it's really important that we get all of the comments of the public, before deciding on the rezoning.
Flintoft said he's worried about how people will cross the busy Highway 97 to get to various retail stores. How can these people get from this piece of property to the services of the community? I have no idea. He added he thinks a big study should be conducted on how we're going to move traffic in that area, before Council approves the rezoning.
Councillor Allan Carswell said the issue is a tough one, because the town needs this facility, and Osoyoos doesn't have that many parcels of land that can accommodate it. You'd certainly like to see it somewhere else, but it may be our only place to put it. Let's see what the public has to say.rnSlater agreed that this is a very important project for the community, but he thinks there may well be better places to put it.
I think (Interior Health) had better be at that public consultation meeting and explain to the public why they and the proponents are looking at this as the very suitable site, when there are indeed other sites in the town of Osoyoos that in Council's opinion and planning staff's opinion are more suitable for this project.rnBut, Slater said, he and Council will keep an open mind and listen to what the public has to say before deciding on the rezoning application.
Baltic Properties has built seniors and assisted-living facilities in Chilliwack, Kamloops, Langley and Winfield. In July, a Baltic official said its plans for Osoyoos called for a 150-unit facility in two buildings, to be called Baltic Mariposa Manor and Baltic Mariposa Lodge. The private facility, owned and operated by Baltic, would be contracted by Interior Health for the care services in Osoyoos.