Develop the ALR?

[dle]

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/2 ... th-the-ALR

Should we develop the ALR?

IMHO, a huge unequivocal NO

Do we need housing? Yes. Do we need to welcome any and all ideas to provide same and give them serious consideration? Yes. Should developing the ALR be one of those suggestions? NO!!!!

This would be a DISASTROUS idea. The ALR is here for a reason - for this very reason - to protect our farmland from developers!!!! While well-meant, the idea is obviously not well-thought out and very very short-sighted. There are certain roads we can NEVER go down no matter what and one of them is mucking about with the farmlands that sustain us. Small parcels of ALR land, once they are deemed to not be viable for growing and/or pasturing now or in future, could be released from the farming category but that is it, and those parcels should not be developed into anything but parkland, wetlands, un-motorized recreation areas. The land in the ALR is sacred and to be protected at all costs.

To let even one thread of farm-land development happen anywhere near Kelowna (or anywhere else for that matter), would be unthinkable, and very irresponsible because destroyer developers will grab that thread and run with it and our City Council will grant variance after variance swearing "This is needed. This will be good for Kelowna." It will not.

There are some farmers and ranchers who would poke pins in their eyes before they would let a developer even on their property. But, there are a few farmland owners who would dearly love to sell to a developer. They are no longer interested in farming the land and are willing to sell gladly to the highest bidder. The ALR protects that land so that if sold, it can only be sold for another agricultural purpose. Those owners who just want out, want the $$ they know they will rake in from a developer who wants to build towers.

We also do not have a "protect and nuture" Council at this point. We have, for the most part, a "dollar signs in the eyes" council with a reputation for granting developers all wishes, not minding the store during the building processes, saying "oh, well what's done is done". Do NOT let our council get their mitts on the farmland - do NOT let them even entertain the thought they could remove land from the ALR...

[Grandan]

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#224856
https://okanaganedge.net/2018/04/27/lets-develop-alr/

A Kelowna economics professor has a modest proposal for dealing with the housing affordability issues plaguing the city: start building on the Agricultural Land Reserve.

Dr. Ross Hickey, an assistant professor of economics at UBC Okanagan, made the suggestion at an Urban Development Institute luncheon April 26.

Speaking to a crowd of hundreds of developers and realtors, Hickey argued developing on the ALR would more effectively control ballooning house prices than the provincial government’s speculation tax.

The ALR has created a enclave for the rich and privileged and ensured that the lower classes will never encroach on their doorstep with their humble houses.
It seems to me that housing for real people who work and contribute to our society should have priority over people who live on farmland and grow hay for hobby horses to maintain their farm status. The ALR has gotten out of hand, stalling the natural development of cities like Kelowna. ALR land is taxed at a fraction of it's value, depriving cities of much needed taxes.
I also don't see why it is more important to grow cherries so rich people in China can have more luxuries than it is to house our homeless citizens, this is insane.

[LTD]

*removed*

[THISISMEANDYOU]

Absolutely no.

The reason the Okanagan still has appeal is because developers HAVEN'T been able to sprawl into the ALR. Look at Knox, Dilworth and Kelowna mountain - compare with 15 years ago. You can see how fast it goes and will never be reclaimed.

[LANDM]

Absolutely no.

The reason the Okanagan still has appeal is because developers HAVEN'T been able to sprawl into the ALR. Look at Knox, Dilworth and Kelowna mountain - compare with 15 years ago. You can see how fast it goes and will never be reclaimed.

So what does developing non alr land, like the locations you just noted, have to do with the issue? What would these areas be "reclaimed" as?
I understand that non-landowners would love owners of vacant parcels to never develop them.....unfortunately that simply shifts the cost of holding to the landowner, for the benefit of society.

[Grandan]

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[alfred2]

Change the alr, tooooooooooooooo many plots are nothing but a dump.ALR makes sense in farm land not in a city. One can not make a living , so it becomes an eyesore. Kelowna has become an ugly city because of it.

[Libtech]

I would defiantly say no way on developing in the ALR.
That is what makes Kelowna a desire location for people to visit and live.
I was born here along with my great grandparents.
Rezoning and better planing would help with the housing issues. But don't get fooled by affordable housing promises as most young families can't afford to buy here and are struggling to rent here. It's very sad but that is just where we are at.
I have been involved in construction industry most of my life. I have seen lots of areas get developed. It is sad but deemed necessary for development of housing.
Planning better on the new sub divisions would help huge. Plus we still have lots of land that we can develop around the Kelowna area. It's just not at the down town core. With the new RU7 zoning that came in last year that might help with some rental issues but will not solve housing shortages. We need city planners to consider more rezoning plus get better transit and road systems in place before we over build again as we can hardly handle the volume now.

We do need more affordable housing but the ALR will not help achieve that. Better development planning and rental caps would help out better. ALR release will NOT help affordable housing!
If we give up ALR land we will lose what make Kelowna such a beautiful and unique place to live. Why do you think everyone wants to live here. Take it away and we are just another over populated city.......

[LTD]

hey maybe once all the farmland gets developed we can start filling in that pesky lake to create more building lots as well

[LTD]

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[TylerM4]

C'mon folks. It's definitely NOT an idiotic idea. It would help lower housing prices. The problem is that there's a downside to it - we loose the farmland that gives the Okanagan a lot of it's appeal.

I've never been a big fan of the methadology behind something like the ALR. If we want more farmland, we should take steps to make farming profitable. Instead we take large swaths of land and force people to only use them for farming.

Grandam is correct - ALR land and Farm status is often abused by the wealthy as a tax shelter.

Personally - I prefer the idea of releasing more crown land for development vs releasing ALR land. Same effect, but we keep the existing farms.

[GordonH]

Something to think about, as viable farmland is lost to development. We as a people/province will get more & more dependent on outside sources for fruits and vegetables etc.

[Grandan]

You need to reference your comments to something tangible, otherwise we do not know what you are thinking.

developing farmland for housing is idiotic is that tangible enough for ya

There is plenty of land in the ALR that is not farmland, for example there are single family homes on lots under 1/4 acre size, that are fully developed with driveways and garage, septic fields and so on and that is just silly.
I am not advocating the development of viable farmland. Land that is surrounded by housing is not suitable for farming due to the conflicts. Land that is too steep or too narrow to turn a tractor around on is not good farmland.
Ripping up the Glenmore Sportsfield that has been in operation for decades to turn it into farmland is not my idea of good urban planning.

[Catri]

Everytime someone suggests that the ALR is dispensable I think about the Glenmore ALR release and how badly the city and developers screwed that up in their zeal to convert what had been a lovely valley into a wall to wall carpet of little boxes. It took decades to fix the mistakes that were made out there. Little has changed at City Hall since then, our civic government with it's perpetual hard-on for development of any kind can not be trusted with our farmland.

[alanjh595]

Fill it all in and build, build, build....until it looks like this.

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/New+Yo ... 74.0059728