Lakeshore Property with illegal fences & walls on beach

[BoBillyBob]

It is time the city stopped turning a blind eye to this. They know it is going on and has been going on for years, yet have not bothered to get the province involved to enforce a stop to this. Wealthy lake shore property owners building large walls and fences down the beach and in to the water, blocking the beach access to everyone. The beach is public and is not owned by anyone, regardless of whether you have a home on the water. One should be able to walk from Rotary beach to city park with no walls or fences blocking access. As of now, this is impossible because of the many obstructions illegally built by property owners. As well, docks need to be designed so that people can walk over them along the beach. Many lake shore property owners also put up fences on the docks blocking this access. These fences and walls they have been constructing are illegal and it is time our province and city stopped ignoring them simply because these lakeshore owners pay high property taxes. Legal action needs to be taken to force the property owners to take them down.

I hope Castanet will follow up and do an article on this too.

http://globalnews.ca/news/3331574/kelowna-man-wants-illegal-shoreline-obstacles-removed/?sf65509322=1

[Atomoa]

Pressuring rich folk to follow laws.

Good luck with that.

[pentona]

I believe that this is a common problem all over the Okanagan Lakeshore but that it may also be a Provincial agency that has authority over the law, not the cities.

[Terris]

It's under Federal authority...

[GordonH]

It's under Federal authority...

All 3 levels of Government appear to some level of authority, city of course with least amount of authority. "X" length from high water line towards shore is between authority of Province &/or Fed's. Since the water flows south across international boundary.

[Grandan]

It is time the city stopped turning a blind eye to this. They know it is going on and has been going on for years. Wealthy lake shore property owners building large walls and fences down the beach and in to the water, blocking the beach access to everyone. The beach is public and is not owned by anyone, regardless of whether you have a home on the water. One should be able to walk from Rotary beach to city park with no walls or fences blocking access. As of now, this is impossible because of the many obstructions illegally built by property owners. As well, docks need to be designed so that people can walk over them along the beach. Many lake shore property owners also put up fences on the docks blocking this access. These fences and walls they have been constructing are illegal and it is time our province and city stopped ignoring them simply because these lakeshore owners pay high property taxes. Legal action needs to be taken to force the property owners to take them down.

I hope Castanet will follow up and do an article on this too.

http://globalnews.ca/news/3331574/kelowna-man-wants-illegal-shoreline-obstacles-removed/?sf65509322=1

The province controls the foreshore, the feds control navigable waters. The city has nothing to say about the fences reaching into the water. There are rare cases where property owners have property running up to and into the water.

[GordonH]

^^^Grandan I suspect that has gone the way of at one time landowners also had mineral rights, that's no longer the case. When & how that happened is anyone's guess, who that is thanks to our politicians.

[WalterWhite]

^^^Grandan I suspect that has gone the way of at one time landowners also had mineral rights, that's no longer the case. When & how that happened is anyone's guess, who that is thanks to our politicians.

As far as I know there are still a handful(3-4 if I recall correctly) of lots in the Kelowna area south of the bridge with foreshore rights that do extend past the high water mark into the lake. Trying to get a look on the city of Kelowna website - but lo and behold it's not working.

[GordonH]

^^^Grandan I suspect that has gone the way of at one time landowners also had mineral rights, that's no longer the case. When & how that happened is anyone's guess, who that is thanks to our politicians.

As far as I know there are still a handful(3-4 if I recall correctly) of lots in the Kelowna area south of the bridge with foreshore rights that do extend past the high water mark into the lake. Trying to get a look on the city of Kelowna website - but lo and behold it's not working.

City of Kelowna map viewer http://maps.kelowna.ca/public/mapviewer/

[steve mc]

same problem on westside also what with first nation only beach.

[WalterWhite]

^^^Grandan I suspect that has gone the way of at one time landowners also had mineral rights, that's no longer the case. When & how that happened is anyone's guess, who that is thanks to our politicians.

As far as I know there are still a handful(3-4 if I recall correctly) of lots in the Kelowna area south of the bridge with foreshore rights that do extend past the high water mark into the lake. Trying to get a look on the city of Kelowna website - but lo and behold it's not working.

City of Kelowna map viewer http://maps.kelowna.ca/public/mapviewer/

Thanks GordonH - site was down when I looked 5 minutes ago. Take a look at the properties along Abbott St. immediately south of Strathcona - 2302 & 281 Abbott St. Also, just south of Kinsmen Park - 2736 & 2752 Abbott. St. Also a number of properties along Hobson Rd. - 4364 & 4316 Hobson is a good example. Now - the city map viewer isn't exactly, well - exact, but you'll see the difference in the markings of a number of properties along the Lakeshore. Keep in mind - a lot of these properties were established long before lakeshore access, the environment and current lifestyle was all of no concern at the time.

[WalterWhite]

same problem on westside also what with first nation only beach.

That whole situation still boggles my mind.

[BoBillyBob]

The province controls the foreshore, the feds control navigable waters. The city has nothing to say about the fences reaching into the water. There are rare cases where property owners have property running up to and into the water.

Provincially controlled. But our city could certainly expedite getting provincial involvement in putting a stop to this, and have instead, turned a blind eye. If the city got involved, the province would get involved. Instead, over the years, it's been community members trying to get the province involved, but to no avail. Our city mayor and council need to step up.

[Grandan]

^^^Grandan I suspect that has gone the way of at one time landowners also had mineral rights, that's no longer the case. When & how that happened is anyone's guess, who that is thanks to our politicians.

There are factors of erosion and accretion that can add to or take away land on a waterway. I recall that years ago when the topic was being discussed, it was noted that there was a case of ownership that extended into the water in Kelowna that applied and that reason was given.

[Black Daisies]

http://maps.kelowna.ca/public/mapviewer/

Interesting map. It's bad enough that these homeowners are blocking access to the beaches in front of their homes but there are also city-owned beach accesses that are being blocked from public access by these home owners. I know of at least 2.

One of my favorite weekend places to go on the coast is Crescent Beach. There they have a nice pedestrian walkway between the beach and the homes facing the beach. We really do need that here in Kelowna instead of the small postage-stamp sized beaches we have now. If there was some sort of fundraiser to raise funds and awareness, I'd gladly contribute.