Simpson Covenant remains

Castanet Aug 13
A B.C. Supreme Court judge upheld the terms of the Simpson Covenant in a decision released Wednesday. The Covenant is attached to the lands bounded by Okanagan Lake and Ellis Street, Doyle and Queensway Avenues. The land, which includes the Kelowna Museum, the Memorial Arena, Jim Stuart Park and the land used by the Kelowna Yacht Club, is a subject of an historic document preventing the lands from being used for commercial purposes. Kelowna mayor Sharon Shepherd says the ruling says that we have to abide by the intent of the covenant. “Certainly in the process of all the re-zoning that council was undertaking we were trying to be mindful of what the intent of the original covenant upheld. The covenant, which sets out three distinct parts: the land must never be sold, must be used for municipal purposes, and must not to be used for commercial or industrial purposes,” says Shepherd. She says it doesn’t change the City’s intention to develop Stuart Park. “The goal of this and previous Councils is to preserve continuous public access to Okanagan Lake from City Park to Knox Mountain Park.”

Shepherd says the trust that was developed over the years and the judge is saying the land must never be sold and be used for municipal purposes. “You can put municipal buildings on it but you can't put commercial or industrial buildings on the land. When we tried to remove the covenant, the Save the Simpson Society Covenant tried to put a stop to it and that's why it ended up in the courts. It has implications for future changes in zoning and use of the land. If this ruling overrides the caveat that no commercial activity is allowed on the property than what implications will this have for Stuart Park for instance. An example would be, could a hotdog vendor for example not set up shop in that park?" She says the ruling, which came in the form of a 70 plus page document, has to be looked over by all council members.