Last day for houseboats to vacate bay
July 2010
News
Wayne Moore - www.castanet.net
About a half dozen houseboat owners may be heading for a confrontation with the District of West Kelowna.
The owners of houseboats and other boats illegally moored in Gellatly Bay were given notice at the end of June to move their vessels within 30 days or have them towed away.
The 30 day window ends Thursday.
While several houseboats have been moved, about a half dozen remain moored in the bay.
"We're still hoping for voluntary compliance," says West Kelowna Communications Director, Kirsten Jones.
"We're hoping they will do the right thing."
Late last month, the municipality received a License of Occupation from the provincial government for the portion of Gellatly Bay abutting its property.
The municipality served all vessel owners illegally moored in the bay notice they had to remove their vessels within 30 days, effective June 29.
Jones says the municipality was able to locate the owners of every vessel. Notices of eviction were mailed to each owner while a copy was posted on each vessel.
Vessels not moved by Thursday will be towed and stored for 30 days, after which, if the vessels are still unclaimed, the towing company will be free to take action to recover its costs of towing and storage.
Houseboats started arriving at Gellatly Bay in the summer of 2008, about the same time Shelter Bay Marina evicted all its houseboats.
That was October 31 of 2008, a few months after the City of Kelowna was successful in removing a number of houseboats from Sutherland Bay.
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