Province to blame for docks mess
Editor: Quote from Ron Seymour’s June 29 story: “All waterfront property owners who want to fix or replace their docks must get approval to do so from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operations. Extra resources are being deployed to expedite the approval process.”
They’re expediting replacement procedures, offering Front Counter services in Kelowna. Dedicated staff? Toll free numbers? What kind of nonsense is this? That ministry cut staff significantly and they were apparently stretched so thin no inspections could be completed to ensure “permit holders” didn’t block access or ignore city bylaws as they pertained to barriers into the lake and proper construction of their docks.
This entire mess is on successive provincial governments. Virtually no follow-up on the permits they issued. Now they’re giving ‘Front Counter’ service. They will likely continue letting them police themselves which, as we all know, has been far from exemplary.
The city should have been raising this with the province and particularly the Minister (our own Steve Thomson) at every previous opportunity, not just when most residents (75 per cent from a recent poll) show their objection to “any docks/barriers.”
I’m very weary of their whining and crying about what it will cost them to replace or repair their dock so they can enjoy their beaches once again.
Many people in Kelowna would also like to enjoy those beaches, too. However, that’s very unlikely with all their barriers at this time.
Perhaps there wouldn’t have been so much of a financial loss if the docks were built to code (perhaps many were) or they had adequate insurance coverage. Foolish to build without it.
It would go a long way for the province to give and the city accept responsibility for inspection of all existing and proposed docks, ensuring their construction complies with code and all illegal barriers are removed. The owners should have to provide a survey to prove where their property lines are and provide that survey as part of their permit or lease applications.
Steve Braybrook, Kelowna