When a centrally located piece of land recently became available, Council acted quickly to add it to the area between two parcels previously purchased by the District of Lake Country in early 2021 using Development Cost Charge (DCC) funds.
“When Council learned that the property across from Beasley Park – and which links other parcels the District already owns – was going to be made available for sale, we immediately discussed opportunities for purchasing it to give the community more contiguous centrally-located public park space,” said Mayor Blair Ireland. “In the Sports and Recreation Needs Assessment completed in 2023, community members made it clear how much they value the outdoor activity opportunities we have in Lake Country. Using contributions collected through development for the parkland acquisition, the DCC program continues to make the most sense to purchase this land which is identified within the Official Community Plan (OCP) as Parkland Conservation.”
The recent property acquisition at 3411 Woodsdale Road is 2 hectares (5 acres) and cost $2,297,250. Adding that to the properties on either side of it, the combined size of all three properties is 4.86 hectares (12 acres). The properties are strategically situated adjacent to existing recreation amenities at the District of Lake Country-owned Beasley Park and Regional District of Central Okanagan-owned Reiswig Park. Those park properties were granted non-farm use for community park purposes in the 1990’s.
The Parks and Recreation Master Planning process set out the vision, objectives and direction for managing parks, trails and community facilities over a 20-year period and to ensure decisions on acquiring public land are strategic. Acquiring new adjacent or contiguous property to add to the public land inventory aligns with Council’s vision focused on the theme of “Community: We will continue to build a complete community with a high quality of life in which people are safe, active and healthy. Focus area for Parks, Recreation and Culture: We will expand facility-based recreation services, parks, greenspaces and outdoor recreation amenities to meet growing community demand.”
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For more information contact:
Mayor Blair Ireland
250-766-6670 mayorandcouncil@lakecountry.bc.ca
Matt Vader, Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture
250-766-5650 mvader@lakecountry.bc.ca