Parkade opponents ready

Jeremy Deutsch - Kamloops This Week Published: August 24, 2011 4:00 PM
It may be the dog days of summer but, for a group hoping to stop the Lorne Street parkade, these are busy times.  Friends of Riverside Park (FOR), a group leading the counter-petition process against the Lorne Street parkade project, has been meeting and plotting strategy for the upcoming campaign. FOR member Bob Gamble said the group has formed a committee to co-ordinate volunteers and plans to be at the Kamloops Farmers’ Market throughout the 30-day campaign.  “We’re just putting the organization together, is what we’re doing,” he said, noting the group has about 20 core members, with anther 20 residents saying they will help if needed.  On Aug. 9, city council sent a borrowing bylaw to a third reading, which will allow the city to borrow $8 million to complete construction of the controversial parkade at Riverside Park.  When the bylaw gets the final approval from council on Aug. 30, it will trigger the alternative-approval process, which gives opponents 30 days to gather 10 per cent of the electorate’s signatures, forcing council to drop the project or send it to  referendum. FOR is expecting to have the petition by Aug. 31.

Petition will be made available on the city’s website, but will need to be printed out and signed and mailed or delivered to city hall.  Petitions will be available at city hall, but city council refused a request to also make them available in other city buildings throughout Kamloops. Gamble said the group will be asking council to reverse its decision.  FOR plans to kick off the signature drive on Aug. 31 at the final Music in the Park event of the summer. There were 64,310 eligible voters in Kamloops in 2008, which means the group will need about 6,500 signatures.  Gamble said a big challenge for the group is telling residents they have a choice and that the parkade is not a done deal.  “There’s an opportunity to have a say in whether or not this project goes ahead,” he said.  “That’s what this petition is all about.”
In May, council decided to proceed with a two-level, 350-stall parkade in the Lorne Street parking lot adjacent to Riverside Park.  The parkade is estimated to cost $7.8 million, with the project expected to go to tender in late December.