Discussion is once again swirling around the Chelsea Estate property in Vernon.
At Monday’s council meeting, Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming hinted at the province’s interest in expanding Ellison Provincial Park through the purchase of the lakefront lands on Cameron Road, adjacent to the park.
Cumming said he’d received an “interesting call” from B.C. Parks, expressing interest in the Chelsea Estate property. He added there will be a Zoom meeting between the interested stakeholders in January.
The 234-acre Chelsea Estate property has been the subject of much discussion since June when it was listed for sale on Colliers International. A Vernon resident’s petition for the ministry of environment to purchase the property garnered more than 10,000 signatures by early July, and the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce wrote multiple letters to the B.C. government pushing for the acquisition of the estate.
The District of Lake Country also voiced its support for the land purchase; in July Coun. Blair Ireland said the land represents “one of the last opportunities to have a large public space on Okanagan Lake.”
The province had previously said the 234 acres may be beyond its budget, but the chamber has continued to push for some portion of the land to be acquired.
Owned by a family in the Lower Mainland, the Chelsea Estate property consists of 11 parcels of land, with nine offering water frontage between Predator Ridge and Ellison Provincial Park. Its most recent assessment valued the property at about $16.5 million.
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