Paddlewheel plan unpopular

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: November 25, 2010 6:00 PM
There appears to be little support for replacing sports facilities with parking at a Vernon park. About 60 people attended a planning meeting for Paddlewheel Park Monday, and opposition was widespread to removing the tennis courts and beach volleyball area and expanding boat launch parking.  “That’s a solid no,” said Victor Cumming, president of the Okanagan Landing Community Association. “People were saying it’s 2010 and no where in the world do they put parking on a beach.”  The North Okanagan Regional District has explored the idea of relocating the tennis courts and beach volleyball court to other sites as a way of easing congestion at the boat launch.  “People who live in that area and play tennis want to do it there rather than going to Marshall Fields,” said Al McNiven, NORD parks and recreation general manager.  NORD owns the land where the tennis courts are, but the association owns the rest of Paddlewheel Park.

The meeting was also a chance for residents to provide input on the future of Paddlewheel Park, and Cumming says opinions were strong. “People are saying no boat launch there in the long-term because it’s a swimming area,” he said, If that were to occur, it would be up to NORD to determine a new site for a boat launch.  “That’s a fairly significant launch for Okanagan Lake so if it was cut back, we’d have to look at how to handle it,” said McNiven. The association has now entered into a planning process with the regional district.  “We have all of that information from the meeting and us and the association will have to look at it, see what will fit on the site and consider the implications to any changes,” said McNiven.  Cumming is optimistic mutual concerns can be addressed.  “If we can keep it at a good planning stage, we should be in good shape,” he said.  However, Cumming admits some residents have suggested the association — which owns the land where the launch is — possibly prevent such a use there if NORD doesn’t agree to remove it.  “If push came to shove, the association could consider options,” he said.