Kelowna looking to acquire 10 properties for waterfront parks

It may be decades away but the City of Kelowna is looking at creating a waterfront beach park stretching from Rotary Marsh through Manhattan Point to Sutherland Bay and Knox Mountain.

That’s in a proposal going to city council on Monday, March 11, and ties in with the redevelopment plans for the Tolko Mill site and the North End which will bring thousands of new residents to the area.

“It is important that, as infill growth proceeds, new parks and amenities are introduced to accommodate and serve the growth,” the report says. "In this case, the new waterfront parks and beach access would be introduced in an area that is now completely inaccessible to the general public.”

The city currently owns three properties along Manhattan Point and wants to buy another 10 to complete a series of waterfront parks that will stretch from Knox Mountain to the Bennett Bridge and add “unparalleled beach park experiences to Kelowna’s Sapphire Necklace of waterfront parks,” the report says. “As one of the most westerly points of Kelowna, it affords spectacular views to the north, south and west over the lake and to the mountains beyond."

The plan likely won’t come without some pushback from existing property owners as the city moves to designate their properties as future parks. In 2022, landowners along Watt Road launched a lawsuit when the city designated their lands for future parks.

“Property owners of lots with a future land use designation as park are not obligated to sell their property to the city,” the report says.

“The zoning on the property does not change and a property owner is free to use the property as it is currently being used, redevelop the property under the existing zoning, or sell the property to another owner who would enjoy the same rights as they do.”

If the properties do go on the market the city pays fair market value, which usually means a third party appraises the land based on “the highest and best use of the property in the absence of its park designation,” the report says.

READ MORE: Why Kelowna pays way over assessed value for land it buys

Given that the city will have to wait for the properties to go on sale, it could take decades before the park is completed, the report says.

During public input sessions a “small cohort” raised concerns about the idea of more waterfront parks, but “a main priority on the part of participants was the addition of more waterfront parks and lake access — with a distinct desire shown to complete the public space connection along the waterfront from Knox Mountain Park in the north through to City Park,” the report says.

The waterfront park is expected to extend through the Tolko site to Sutherland Bay.

The changes will have to go to a public hearing before being adopted.

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