B.C. judge grounds radio-controlled planes at grassy, Okanagan airstrip

KELOWNA, B.C. – A B.C. Supreme Court judge has grounded radio-controlled model planes at a grassy airstrip in the central Okanagan community of Lake Country.

Mayor James Baker says the municipality took the Kelowna Ogopogo Radio Controllers Association to court after receiving complaints from chicken farmers, equestrians and local residents about noise.

The district argued in court that operating model aircraft from the airstrip, which is located on agricultural land, was not consistent with a municipal zoning bylaw.

But the club disagreed, arguing it could use the airstrip because the bylaw didn’t define airstrip or aircraft, and those who wrote the legislation didn’t exclude model aircraft on agricultural land.

Justice Frank Cole has sided with the district, ruling the association is breaking a municipal bylaw and has issued an injunction against members from using the property as an airstrip.

The club has said previously that it has more than 100 members aged 10 to 90, began operating in the 1960s, and was incorporated as a registered society in 1977.