City asks court to dismiss Kelowna Springs lawsuit

The fight over the Kelowna Springs Golf Club isn’t over and now the city has responded to a lawsuit over the redevelopment of the course.

A petition was filed with the BC Supreme Court by local opponents to the development on May 19. It argues the city’s decision to allow Denciti Development Corp. wasn’t made through a fair process.

Now the city has responded, refuting the petition’s claims and asking the court to dismiss it. The city said it did everything properly, including public notices, impartiality from council and a fair process.

The petition argues that the City of Kelowna didn’t disclose enough information ahead of public hearings on the decision to allow Vancouver-based Denciti Development Corp. to turn part of the course into a commercial development. It also alleges that city council went into the public hearings with their minds already made up.

The decision to redevelop the course was controversial and the opposition was loud, but the city said doing something unpopular isn’t illegal.

“Failure to adequately weigh public opposition in a particular matter is not a justiciable issue for the court. The public’s remedy for discontent with the voting patterns of its elected municipal council is at the ballot box,” the city wrote in its response.

Part of the lawsuit is about a land swap agreement in which Denciti gave the city half of the golf course property at 480 Penno Road in exchange for another parcel at 3199 Hollywood Road North.

The original petitioners include Susan Ames, David Buckna, Alexandra Wright, Randy Kozek and Lorel Pearce. David Buckna and Susan Ames have since pulled out of the lawsuit.

The fight over redeveloping the course has been going on since 2022. The conflict looked like it was over back in March when the city rezoned half the land so Denciti could move forward with a development project and golfers could keep a 9-hole course. But the petitioners’ lawsuit is an effort to prevent the development from going ahead.