Plans for new winery draw mixed reviews

A massive new winery planned for Lake Country is praised as a commendable agricultural undertaking, but also criticized for its potential to fundamentally change the nature of Carr’s Landing.

On Tuesday, town council will consider a request from Dennis O’Rourke to rezone 12 properties from rural-residential to agricultural to support the winery’s development.

“The rezoning from rural residential to agriculture will expand the agricultural sector in Lake Country and leave a lasting legacy for the community and for the O’Rourke family,” reads part of a letter from Fred Steele on behalf of the BC Fruit Growers Association.

But some residents of Lake Country are concerned about issues such as traffic and noise impacts, and believe the winery could lead eventually to more of a resort-style development.

“I believe we are in a rural setting and shouldn’t have our peace ruined by a commercial operation,” Sandra Aikins writes in a letter of opposition.

“The tourist who will come to see (the winery) will spend very little money in Lake Country itself, and the farm jobs that will be created will mostly be filled by migrant workers as already demonstrated by the large cherry operation on Carr’s Landing road,” write Rita and George Trevelyan.

“If the District of Lake Country does not preserve our rural quality of life, we might as well all move to urban Kelowna, because that busy, noisy, urban quality of life is exactly what you will create,” write Rich and Nicky Deakin.

Development plans for the winery date back more than two years.

Much site work, including the planting of vineyards, construction of a reservoir, and the blasting of 300 metres of underground tunnels for the storage of wine barrels, has already been done or is in progress.

That work has been exempt from development permits because it is considered to be agricultural in nature, and is covered under the provincial Right to Farm Act.