Business owners plead with Kelowna to properly manage tiny-home community
Global News
The site is across the Okanagan Rail Trail and the existing city-designated outdoor sheltering site is often referred to as tent city.
One day after BC Housing announced the first of two locations for a tiny home community in Kelowna to shelter those experiencing homelessness, business owners in the area are pleading with the city to ensure the site is managed properly.
“I would like to hear a little bit further on how the city plans on maintaining the site, how the infrastructure of possible security is going to be involved,” said Keith Dyck, owner of Okanagan Street Food.
“There is concerns with other businesses on Crowley that there could be problems.”
The 60 tiny homes will be situated on a parcel of city-owned land along Crowley Avenue in the city’s north end, a largely an industrial area.
The site is across the Okanagan Rail Trail and the existing city-designated outdoor sheltering site, often referred to as tent city.
“There’s often RCMP on site. There’s always Bylaw on site. There’s always some issues over there and it is going to be moving closer to our front door,” said Dyck.
And while he anticipates some loss in business as a result of the newly designated tiny home development, he still supports it.
“We’re advocates for the homeless. We’re definitely on their side,” Dyck said.