City staff against RV park continuing on farmland

Operator of RV park in Southeast Kelowna asking council to ‘legalize illegal use,’ says report

An unauthorized, year-round RV park on Southeast Kelowna farmland should not be legalized, city council will hear today.

Planners recommend council not endorse Calvin Kuipers’ application for a non-farm use of a small portion of his 5.7-hectare property at the northwest corner of McCulloch Road and Gulley Road.

For several years, trailers and RVs have been parked on the site, with direct connection to water, septic and electricity.

“The facility has been illegally rented year-round to residents who live on the property, and bylaw enforcement has incurred to address this. Through this application (for a non-farm use), the applicant is seeking to legalize the illegal use,” reads part of a staff report to council.

For his part, Kuipers says the operation provides valuable income to supplement the farming operation. He also says there have been no complaints from nearby property owners.

“I would like to operate the RV park year round,” he writes in a letter to the city. “I have been catering to the low income, many of whom are on some sort of social services.

“Most are on long-term disability,” Kuipers writes. “These people have no other place to live.”

In response, city officials say a permanent, year-round RV park detracts from the farm’s agricultural potential. And they say the collection of older trailers and RVs currently on the site “may not provide good quality housing for people of low socio-economic status.”

Last year, city council prohibited new campgrounds from being established on farmlands. But Kuipers received permission for his RV park, subject to seasonal usage restrictions, in 2009.

Before the ban was imposed last year, the city had approved 13 farmland campgrounds, which were intended mainly to be a form of agri-tourism. The city is currently involved in litigation with several operators of farmland RV parks.