Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Maybe.
150 lone male farm workers.
...with no place nearby to worship.
Nor a place nearby to purchase personal items.
No family for comfort.

And they presumably won't be working 24/7...

So who will supervise "the camp's" adult--and presumably all-male--population?
And if there is a supervisor, what authority will the individual have over adults?

You decide:

A delegation will make a presentation Monday March 13th at Lavington Fire Hall concerning Dr. Geen's plans to create a work camp (a "Coldstream Housing Project") for temporary farm workers...150 workers  here at the N end of Warren Road in Coldstream valley.

"Coral Beach Farms, the owners of the new cherry orchards here in Lavington, make a lot of noise in our area through the Spring and Summer.  However, you may not be aware that this farm applied for a Development Permit Application on their10512 Warren Road property at the Coldstream Council Meeting February 27, 2017.  This variance would allow them to put in larger (720 square foot) Atco trailers rather than the 376.7 sq. foot “picker cabins” that the current zoning allows.  Sounds reasonable, right?  What they have not told you is that the purpose of this variance is to allow for 150 transient and foreign workers to reside in this “Coldstream Housing Project”.  Ninety eight workers will be in eight (yes just eight) of these 720 sq. foot units.  To comply with most municipal bylaws, the number should be closer to twenty. The rest of the workers, some fifty or more people, will be housed in tents on the ground.  Coral Beach Farms is proposing that workers will live on the property from March until November, with some permanent staff year round.

This application was brought to a tie vote at the Council Meeting February 27, 2017 and the application was denied, BUT our Mayor Jim Garlic stated that he may bring it back to the table at the end of March.  Under our current bylaws, Coral Beach Farms are still free to go ahead and build the smaller cabins and house one hundred and fifty people.

As property owners at 10449 Warren Road we strongly oppose this application and the number of workers proposed to be housed at 10512 Warren Road.  Our fellow Warren Road neighbors feel the same.  We are looking for support from the Lavington community on this issue.

We understand that Coral Beach Farms needs to house workers while their orchard is being picked and with the current zoning, have the right to unlimited number of Picker’s Cabins on this property for this purpose. It is our opinion that this Development Permit Application to increase the area size of worker accommodation is to increase the number of workers they can house at this property.  Under ALR regulations, workers can reside on the property, not for the sole intent of picking the fruit produced on 10512 Warren Road, but to work at any other orchard owed by Coral Beach Farms.  They are in fact creating a trailer park on ALR land. We believe the sole reason they have chosen this property for their “Housing Project” is that the District of Coldstream has no bylaw capping the numbers of farm workers allowed to reside per property but other surrounding Districts and Municipalities do.  Coral Beach Farms home farm is in Lake Country.  Lake Country has agreed to abide by the City of Kelowna’s Temporary Farm Workers Housing Bylaw.  Mr. Geen has found a void in our bylaws and is taking advantage of it in a way that is by no means beneficial to the community of Lavington or the District of Coldstream.

The City of Kelowna, District of Lake Country, Westbank and five other major municipalities in British Columbia are regulated via bylaw to house no more than 40 workers per farm, or to have housing permits individually authorized by city council for any number above ten workers.  

We are asking that The District of Coldstream take this into consideration and enact a Temporary Farm Workers Housing Bylaw to bring our district into agreement with the Central Okanagan’s bylaws.

This many transient people in such a concentrated area will bring potential issues to the entire Lavington Community, not just our neighborhood.  Issues such as: 

·         Security

·         Transportation 

·         Infrastructure and Road Maintenance

·         Other and potential larger camps at any other ALR property in Coldstream - If they can have 150 people in one concentrated camp, there is nothing saying a smaller orchard in a more populated area couldn’t do the same. 

Without a bylaw, all residents of Coldstream could be affected.   If you would like to offer us support on the matter, please send an email to the councilors and state that you oppose the reintroduction of Development Permit Application No. 17-001-DVP, 10512 Warren Road (Geen) and demand The District of Coldstream Council regulate the number of workers that can be housed on any one property via a Temporary Farm Workers Housing Bylaw. 

 

Last week's council meeting at which the development variance for farm worker housing was voted on led to a tie vote, with Mayor Garlick indicating the variance application may be brought up again in 30 days. 

So what is the other side of the coin?

Read on:

A letter to the editor today, from P. Sault:

"Support Agriculture:

I fully agree with Margot Shaw's excellent letter Feb. 20 regarding those complaining about the noise level from agricultural practices in Coldstream and Lavington.

It is puzzling why they located here rather than downtown Vernon or Lumby?  Was it because it was a leafy green, lovely rural area, or was it because it was cheaper to build or buy out here?

Did they even ask or did their real estate agent not mention the likelihood that noise would arise from time to time from agricultural activities or the pellet plant, mill, tractors and trucks, cows mooing or trains on the railway track? 

Of course the operations are commercial.  They always have been and always will be.  It is ridiculous to expect a farmer to survive financially otherwise.

Coldstream is rural but perhaps you moved here expecting city amenities would follow because you bought a lot.

Presumably you are comfortable with purchasing all of your meat and produce from other countries regardless of cost or how it is grown.  I am not.

Do you go to the farmers market once or twice a week and pat yourself on the back about how you support local growers and farmers?  

Instead of not in my backyard complaints, try being more supportive of these people.

If that is too difficult, then perhaps you might wish to consider relocating to a quieter community, if one is to be found.  If not, and the rules get more and more restrictive, then we may as well throw up our hands and turn the valley over to the developers.

Then you can have your sidewalks, streetlights, extra traffic and much higher taxes amongst other things.

Maybe it is time for the real estate agents to point out a few hard facts to prospective clients and maybe risk losing the sale.  I don't know.

As it is now, our council is faced with difficult decisions trying to plan for growth and sustainable agriculture.  I for one appreciate the environment, the services, and our generally efficient administration out here in Coldstream and sincerely hope they continue to be staunch supporters of all forms of agriculture.

                            P. Sault"

"Whatever position you support, it might be prudent to lock up your daughters," Kia would've said.

Could a coin have three sides?