Plans for a sports complex on farm land is creating a major rift within 
Coldstream council. The Greater Vernon Services Committee is seeking support Monday for about 100 acres on Aberdeen Road to be turned into sports fields. But two council members are vowing to fight the proposal head-on. “To alienate the best agricultural land in Coldstream for ball fields is ridiculous,” said Coun. Bill Firman. The GVSC is asking Coldstream council to send an application to the Agricultural Land Commission that the land remain within the Agricultural Land Reserve but that it be given non-farm status. Firman insists the plan goes against a survey that showed 88 per cent of Coldstream residents want farm land preserved. The complex could include ball and football fields as well as a track oval, but that doesn’t sway Firman. “Funtastic is a Vernon issue, not a Coldstream issue. Vernon has run out of places to play ball. All of the benefits (of a tournament) go to Vernon,” he said.
Coldstream council. The Greater Vernon Services Committee is seeking support Monday for about 100 acres on Aberdeen Road to be turned into sports fields. But two council members are vowing to fight the proposal head-on. “To alienate the best agricultural land in Coldstream for ball fields is ridiculous,” said Coun. Bill Firman. The GVSC is asking Coldstream council to send an application to the Agricultural Land Commission that the land remain within the Agricultural Land Reserve but that it be given non-farm status. Firman insists the plan goes against a survey that showed 88 per cent of Coldstream residents want farm land preserved. The complex could include ball and football fields as well as a track oval, but that doesn’t sway Firman. “Funtastic is a Vernon issue, not a Coldstream issue. Vernon has run out of places to play ball. All of the benefits (of a tournament) go to Vernon,” he said. Coun. Jim Garlick shares Firman’s concerns. “We’re taking active farm land and we’re going to pave it. It’s going backwards,” he said. Garlick believes the complex could lead to more urbanization and he believes it should be located at the existing Marshall Fields in Vernon. He also says the matter just went before the advisory planning committee Thursday and now council has to deal with it Monday. “It’s been rushed. It’s a bad way to run a community,” said Garlick. But other Coldstream council members are rallying behind GVSC’s plans. “It can do great things for Greater Vernon,” said Coun. Carol Williams of the possible economic and recreational benefits of a complex. Coun. Glen Taylor believes a sports complex is a better land use than what could happen there. “In the official community plan, that bottom part was slated for development. So by turning it into park, we prevent that,” he said. “We are giving up farm land but we’re not turning it into concrete.”
Mayor Gary Corner agrees the Aberdeen Road property is ideal. “I want to protect farm land but the reality is, we won’t find a piece of land that size not in the Agricultural Land Reserve,” said Corner, who is also GVSC chairman. Corner goes on to say that existing GVSC parks won’t handle additional facilities and there is no long-term guarantee of the public being able to use the army camp fields because the federal government controls them. “We’ve looked at several options over the years. This (Aberdeen Road) didn’t happen overnight.” Councillors Doug Dirk and Mary Malerby could not be reached for comment.
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Jul 22 2007 EDITORIAL http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/
Coldstream’s motto is Rural Living At Its Best, and certainly Councillors Jim Garlick and Bill Firman deserve praise for wanting to protect agricultural land. Obviously once farm land is under pavement and buildings, it’s gone forever. But a blanket policy on agricultural land is unrealistic because it doesn’t consider the specific needs of the property owner or the community. Case in point is Garlick and Firman’s opposition to using about 100 acres of agricultural land on Aberdeen Road for a proposed sports complex. Anyone who has seen hay crops harvested there knows the site is prime farm land. But it is also an attractive location for a sports complex because of its easy access off Highway 6 and proximity to Vernon. Anyone who suggests finding a non-farm site for a complex should think again. The only large tracts left in Greater Vernon are within the Agricultural Land Reserve. If it isn’t Aberdeen Road, it will be somewhere else. And there is no escaping the issue. Greater Vernon is deficient in parkland and especially facilities for football and track and field. Yes, there is also ball and specifically the Funtastic slowpitch tournament. Public access to the fields at the federally owned army camp could disappear at any time so it’s imperative that another location be developed for ball. And for Firman to suggest Funtastic is a Vernon issue, not a Coldstream issue is a joke. Coldstream residents work or own businesses that benefit from Funtastic and other tournaments that come to the area. Such a narrow view of the world is not benefitting anyone. In the end, preserving farm land must be a priority but there are cases where broad-based community interest must be considered. This is one of those times.
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