A yes vote in the upcoming referendum would not approve a hotel at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre (PTCC), but it would remove a 1912 land-use restriction that currently limits what the City of Penticton can do with property at 325 Power Street.

And one thing would remain unchanged regardless of the outcome: Bambino Ball Field and other dedicated parkland would not be affected by the referendum.

Blake Laven, the City’s director of development services, said during an interview this week that removing the parkland is not part of the referendum question.

“There’s no impact to Bambino Field whatsoever,” Laven said. “The ball field is located within the indenture area, but it will still remain dedicated parkland and will keep all the protections afforded to it under city park protections.”

The referendum question will appear on the ballot during the Oct. 17 municipal election. Voters will be asked whether they support removing a trust condition contained in a 1912 indenture that restricts the use of the City-owned property to games, sports and athletics, horse racing, park purposes, agricultural or fruit exhibitions and other objects of a public nature.

The full question asks:

“Are you in favour of the removal of the trust condition included in the 1912 Indenture that restricts the use of the City of Penticton property located at 325 Power Street to ‘games, sports and athletics of all kinds whatsoever and for horse-racing, park purposes, agricultural or fruit exhibitions or other objects of a public nature’, so that the City may use, convey, lease and otherwise deal with that property free of that trust condition? YES or NO”

The restriction dates back to 1912, when the property was owned by the Southern Okanagan Land Company Ltd. Laven said the indenture predates the City’s current zoning and Official Community Plan and takes precedence over those normal land-use tools.

If voters approve removal of the restriction, the property would return to the City’s normal land-use processes, Laven said.

“That means any changes council might want to do would have to go through a public hearing and all the rezoning and normal provisions, like with any other city-owned land,” he said. “It would just remove that additional existing restriction on the property.”

One potential use that has been discussed for years is an attached hotel at or near the PTCC.

Laven said removing the restriction would allow the City to continue pursuing that possibility, but any hotel proposal would still have to go through its own review and approval processes.

City staff have supported the idea of an attached hotel for decades, Laven said, arguing that additional hotel space would help the PTCC attract larger conferences, conventions, trade shows and sporting events.

“Having that attached hotel would really unlock a lot of opportunities for us to grow and expand our visitor business.”

Laven said Penticton is competing with other B.C. communities for convention business, noting that Kelowna, Kamloops and Vernon have all announced potential convention-hotel projects in the past year and a half.

The Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce announced Monday that it supports a new hotel at the PTCC and is encouraging residents to vote YES on the referendum question.

“This summer was an important reminder of how vulnerable a tourism-dependent economy can be when so much business is concentrated into July and August,” said Chamber president Jordan Knox in a press release.

Knox said large conventions and conferences are particularly important during the shoulder seasons, when Penticton does not see the same volume of summer visitors.

Laven similarly pointed to March, April and May, as well as October through December, as important periods for convention and conference business.

“We have a very cyclical economy in Penticton and anything we can do to stretch out the tourism business is huge to the downtown restaurants, bars and the retail stores and other ancillary businesses,” he said.

A no vote would leave the 1912 trust restriction in place, limiting the potential uses of the property to those outlined in the indenture.

Laven said that would make an attached hotel at the PTCC much more difficult to pursue.

“We do need a hotel somewhere on or near this facility, but it would be very difficult to build one if the community says no,” he said.

The City has stressed that the referendum is not a vote on a hotel or any other specific development proposal.

A YES vote would simply remove the historic restriction and give the City greater flexibility in considering future uses for the property.

Dedicated parkland, including Bambino Ball Field, is not part of the referendum question and would remain dedicated parkland regardless of whether voters approve or reject removal of the 1912 trust condition.

Laven also noted that a previously approved potential relocation of the Bambino baseball diamond under the City’s North Gateway plan is separate from the referendum question.

— This article was originally published by the Penticton Herald