Passive park plan proposed for Kin Race Track lands

Additionally, the Athletic Park was estimated in 2022 to costs somewhere around the $50-million mark, excluding project risk, specific design features and inflation, which would cost nearly as much as the total current value of all existing City Park assets, which was valued around $54-million. As of January 28, the city had a Kin Race Track Park Reserve totalling just under $4.5-million.

City staff examined other B.C. municipalities of similar size to Vernon and found that Vernon had more ball diamonds and regular fields than average, but did have fewer artificial surfaces.

Rather than add new sports fields, the report to council recommended improving and increasing capacity of existing sports fields, and establishing a passive park featuring trails, interpretive areas, the site’s environmental features, and natural drainage patters across the site at the Kin Race Track Park Lands.

“By creating a passive park, the city can activate the park for community use, while adapting to environmental conditions,” Larissa Price, Vernon’s Manager of Park Projects and Community Initiatives, told council Monday.

“This approach keeps the park accessible and beneficial to the residents and allows the city to retain the ability to reconsider this site’s use should the community needs change.”

Price added the change to the Kin Race Track Park Lands plans would not affect the Active Living Centre, construction of which remained underway, and would be developed in conjunction with the ALC to ensure a “cohesive and integrated approach.”

Staff recommended council authorize funding of up to $100,000 and direct staff to develop the plan for the passive park.

Upon receiving the report, council held a lively discussion, expressing a variety of views on the proposed plan.

Coun. Kelly Fehr said he had “some significant concerns with doing borrowing following all of our current projects we have on the go and what that’s going to look like down the road,” and was in favour of the proposed passive park plan as it aligned with some previous ideas for the use of the property.

Coun. Teresa Durning said she was pleased with the proposed passive park plan, saying she understood the costs associated with the groundwater level and how that would affect any development of the site, and that she thinks “we could do something bigger elsewhere in the future.”

Coun. Brian Guy said the $50-million price tag for the Athletics Park was quite high, that the other sports fields in Vernon have the capability of serving the public, and the site could be altered in the future to meet community demands, so was in favour of the proposed passive park idea.

Coun. Akbal Mund said he understood why the plan changed, but said he would like to see some amenity go at the site, be it a pump track or one sports field with artificial turf, and then not develop the rest of the property and wait for other ideas to be proposed in the future.

“I’d like to see it left for now and maybe 10 years from now we look at what may be possible to do in that area. I don’t want to leave it and turn it into trails and therefore take away any ideal options we have for the future,” he said.

Coun. Kari Gares agreed with Mund, saying council had a vision for a sports hub to bring together recreation in a broad scale, and while recognizing the challenges at the site, she was apprehensive of making it a passive park with walking trails.

“Once you do that, even though the recommendation says we can adjust in the future, the reality is you’re not going to adjust in the future because you have people that are going to enjoy that the way we have created it and you’re going to be taking that away,” she said.

She noted it would be best to “not give up those lands” and hold onto it so it can be developed into artificial sports fields or recreation amenities when needed, noting specifically there is a need of artificial turf fields in Vernon.

Gares also argued the money held in the Kin Race Track Park Reserve was to be used for sports amenities and that would be lost in developing a passive park, adding the property was already being used for that purpose without an investment in trails.

Mund agreed the money should be used for recreation, adding Vernon cannot host tournaments because there are no lit fields, which were included in the Athletics Park Plan, and that should be a priority to increase capacity.

Mayor Victor Cumming said Vernon does need more artificial turf fields, and the city should look to address the needs of sports teams and community groups in Vernon. He also said he feels “we don’t have much of a choice in the short run, we’ve got to manage the water. He added little investment should be made at the Kin Race Track Park Lands until more is known about how to balance the needs of the community and the water table issue at the property.

Terry Barton, Vernon’s Director of Planning and Community Services, noted the drainage issue around the ALC site was addressed but the rest of the park does remain prone to seasonal flooding, especially in May and June. Investments in stormwater management infrastructure would be required to protect any amenities or sports fields.

Barton added the construction documentation process for trails and natural amenities is less strenuous than that required for other projects, and the recommended $100,000 would be used to develop an initial design for future consideration. Price said the reserve has enough to cover the work required to make the passive park.

Coun. Brian Quiring was initially in favour of holding onto the land for a few years and not turning it into a passive park, but upon learning of the costs for the work to make a passive plan changed his perspective and deemed it a reasonable idea.

Following the discussion, Vernon City Council ultimately voted in favour of accepting the report and authorizing funding of up to $100,000 for the development of a passive park plan for the Kin Race Track property.

by Liam Verster

Passive park plan proposed for Kin Race Track lands

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