Penticton is wine country

Apparently the three men who call themselves Canadian Horizons think that by giving their Spiller Road development proposal a shiny new name that alludes to wine (Vinterra), the residents of Penticton and indeed Penticton city council won’t notice it’s essentially the same as it was before.

Let’s be clear — this is all about profit and greed and not all about what’s good for Penticton.

When CH purchased the land, it was already zoned “country residential” (one-acre minimum lot size, 65 homes.) They saw this as their proverbial foot in the door and figured they would slide a zoning change past council and residents when they were through with Sendero Canyon. They were already seeing the massive profits that could be made by building cookiecutter houses on tiny lots.

CH spokesman Nathan Hildebrand told me that “Canadian Horizons builds communities.”

Respectfully, Hildebrand, there is already a community here. A thriving and prosperous community rooted in agriculture, outdoor recreation, tourism and viticulture, among other things. A community that has grown and developed out of a respect and an appreciation for what the land gives us, not what we can take from it.

Any way you look at this development, it’s a bad idea.

Erosion; wildlife displacement (including 19 endangered species); non-existent fire hall; non-existent elementary school spots; stretching the city’s already stretched resources even further.

Penticton is the heart of wine country. Not “urban sprawl country.” Tourists come here because this land is a dream come true. No one is going to come and spend a week in Penticton, go on a subdivision tour, enjoy the sights of erosion damage, and decide to move here let alone ever come again. They come to go on winery tours and enjoy the outdoors.

Hildebrand began our residents’ meeting saying this would bring “affordable housing” to Penticton. When pressed on costs (homes are to be 2,500-3,000 square feet with a building cost of $500,000 plus a lot cost of $250,000) he conceded that this was “attainable housing.” His words.

Affordable housing does not carry a $750K price tag. There is lots of room for development in Penticton. There are places to build and develop that do not jeopardize the stability of the land, displace wildlife, and threaten our very way of life. The heart and soul of Penticton. There is room for development but this is not the right spot.

TORONTO — After missing two AmeriCup 2022 qualifying games due to restrictions around COVID-19, Canada’s men’s basketball team will play in next week’s final window of qualifiers.

And they’re brining Kelowna’s Grant Shepard with them.

Brothers Phil and Thomas Scrubb headline the team coached by Gordie Herbert that was announced Friday for the Feb. 17-21 tournament being held in a “bubble” environment in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The AmeriCup qualifiers feature 16 teams from the Americas divided into four groups of four teams who play each other twice. The top three in each group qualify for the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup.

The Canadians open against the U.S. Virgin Islands on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-10 Shephard led the KSS Owls to a B.C. championship in his Grade 11 season. He committed to the UBC Thunderbirds, but has since transferred to Carleton in Ottawa.