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LETTER: Royal York Development Concerns

President of Armstrong Green Space Society raises concerns around Armstrong proposal
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Royal York Golf Course in Armstrong. (Facebook photo)

As the president of the Armstrong Green Space Society, which was formed in early 2019 to support the current Official Community Plan and zoning of the Royal York Golf Course land, I am disappointed the Vernon Morning Star publishes articles that suggest the sale and ownership of the land is a done deal.

Patrick Place, the developer, told me directly on May 11 the accepted offer is subject to changing the OCP and rezoning of the land from parkland/commercial to residential land. At this stage, the City of Armstrong has not formally received an application for these changes.

Our efforts have been to monitor all facts and research all rumours to make sure we have a clear idea of what has been going on for the past 19 months. We approached your newspaper in August 2020 with our legitimate factual concerns. Yet the subsequent article and others following continue to make the public believe the deal is close to being finalized.

A token reference is made to our concerns which represent the opinion of a large number of the community throughout the North Okanagan.

The public meeting mentioned in the Sept. 3 issue of the paper continues to mislead the public. In fact, the rules set out by the City of Armstrong in January 2020 with regards to these public meetings clearly state the notice of the meeting must be published a minimum of two weeks before the meeting and nearby residents must also get a notice two weeks prior to the meeting.

The meeting, as noted in your article and in the paid advertisement, had only one week’s notice. The residents have received nothing.

This should make the meetings invalid, but we have yet to hear from the city as to this breach of the rules they set out.

If anyone is concerned about the loss of this community asset, please write to the City of Armstrong councillors directly. Email addresses are listed on our website www.armgss.com. Also express your concerns to commentsroyalyork@gmail.com as the city’s rules state all feedback from the community must be included in the formal application for the OCP and rezoning changes.

This is not a done deal. Now is the time to have your say and support the current OCP and rezoning before an irreversible decision is made by council.

Lindsay Thachuk