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Issues We Are Addressing
New Fire Hall
The Lakeview Heights Community Association is pleased to see the CWK making substantial progress on a new fire hall for our community.
We do have serious concerns - see below the our letter to the CWK
Dear Mayor and Council,
The Board of Directors for the Lakeview Heights Community Association has had an opportunity to review the proposed new fire hall for our community.
Nobody questions the need for a new fire hall, and there is a lot to recommend the current design. We do have some concerns about the accuracy of the budget given the tight time frame and complexity of the project. Also there are some design details that we hope to further discuss.
The big issue for Lakeview Heights is that despite assurances to the contrary CWK has severely reduced the area of our largest active park. In June of 2023 the CWK published an airphoto with a purple outline showing the proposed new fire hall. The current plan extends well outside that boundary and the net effect is to reduce Anders Park by 40%.
Lakeview Heights (using CWK defined boundaries) only has four active parks and the CWK is removing a big chunk of the largest one. Somewhere along the line the CWK developed the opinion that Westbank Center should be first in line for parks but the attached spreadsheet shows that to be far from true. The shortage in Lakeview Heights clearly needs immediate attention. This shortage stems from the age of our community and the total lack of school playgrounds.
As part of the approval process for the new fire hall we would like a firm commitment for at least 1 ha of additional active park space in Lakeview Heights in the next two years. The CWK owns at least 4 parcels of flat land in Lakeview Heights. While they are probably not located appropriately they could be sold to buy more appropriate parcels.
Your support on this matter would be greatly appreciated,
The Lakeview Heights Community Association
Active Parks
Based on our analysis it is clear that Lakeview Heights is lacking in city parks. We have reasonably good access to regional passive parks but compared with other communities in Kelowna and West Kelowna we have few active parks (designed for play areas and picnics). Some of this stems from the closure of and subsequent lack of schools in our area.
Urban Deer
The urban deer herd continues to grow in Lakeview Heights. Many residents consider them to be a health hazard and a serious nuisance. They are also a significant problem for our agricultural reserve. This is a difficult problem faced by many urban areas. We continue to search for non-lethal methods of population control. Some guidance is provided by the provincial government here.
Roads and Transportation
Traffic in Lakeview Heights has increased considerably over the last few years. We continue to work with the CWK to ensure that our road system is as safe and effective as possible. More details on this issue will be provided as soon as the CWK releases their 2023 transportation plan.
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Paths and Sidewalks
The CWK has a challenge in our neighbourhood with respect to paths and sidewalks. Most of our roads are built to a rural standard without sidewalks or street lighting. While it is impractical to create sidewalks everywhere in Lakeview Heights better options for walking and biking on busy streets is sorely needed in many places. We hope that this will be addressed in the CWK transportation master plan that was supposed to be released last year.