MAY 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Coral Beach pairs foreign, domestic


worker housing Plans for 150 workers spark fear in small town


by JENNIFER SMITH


COLDSTREAM – An ambitious proposal to accommodate up to 150 foreign and domestic workers in Coldstream is prompting pushback from local residents who fear the impact on their community. Coral Beach Farms Ltd. in


Lake Country has applied to build farm worker housing at two properties, one on Buchanan Road and the other on Warren Road. The two applications are identical and seek permission for 15 dormitories accommodating up to 88 foreign workers, a two-level, 5,600-square-foot building with a communal kitchen and washrooms, a 720-square-foot residence for a farm manager and a sewage treatment facility. A camping area with 54 sites is designated for domestic workers. Coral Beach intends to use just one of the two proposed sites but president David Geen says it is keeping its options open while working with municipal planning staff to determine the best location for the community. “We have no intent of building on both,” Geen said. “I’m trying my best to locate this in such a way that it’s the least intrusive to the neighbourhood as possible.” Geen believes Warren Road is the better site for the housing because there are just five homes within a kilometre. There are more neighbours at the Buchanan Road site. Coral Beach originally applied for a building permit variance in order to locate ATCO-style trailers at its


Warren Road property. This would have provided a more compact, temporary form of housing for workers than the pod of 24 cabins existing zoning allowed. The trailers could also be removed from the property when not required, in keeping with provincial guidelines. “The object would be to


make this whole unit temporary so that it can be removed,” Geen told a meeting of Coldstream council and local residents in early March. Councillors rejected the variance application following objections from local residents. Roxanne Ronan, speaking on behalf of the Warren Road residents, urged Coldstream council to limit the number of workers allowed on site, arguing both that having the out-of-town workers in the community carried risks both for locals and the workers themselves. “The camp would isolate


workers already vulnerable due to language barriers and present security concerns to adjacent residences,” she said. “Who will keep them safe


from 150 transients with no ties to this community and no ties to this country?” neighbour Todd Hayes asked, expressing concern for his children. Coldstream staff continue


to review the applications but the proposal for Warren Road has received environmental approval. With harvest fast


approaching, prompt approval is necessary to ensure the housing is ready for the picking season – typically July and August, but potentially September this


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year as well, given the late spring. Meanwhile Coldstream council is moving forward with a request to have the Farm Industry Review Board study current farm practices. Coldstream’s resolution is being forwarded to UBCM member municipalities. Coldstream is also having


staff draft a bylaw that would limit the number of farm


workers to 40 per parcel, in line with BC Ministry of Agriculture guidelines. The bylaw would not impact current applications, however. The aim is for a more


comprehensive approach to the management of farm worker housing and farm practices within the community. “What we are looking at is a broader view of things,” Mayor


PUSHING THE LIMITS OF


Jim Garlick said. While he agrees that something needs to be done to resolve outstanding issues in the community of just over 10,300 people, Coldstream councillor Richard Enns questions if further regulation is needed. “I really don’t think this is the right approach and I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere with it,” he said.


17 CORAL BEACH FARMS PHOTO


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