As part of the proposed consolidation of the Okanagan Electoral Area Zoning Bylaws, the Regional District is undertaking a review of existing Industrial zones and is proposing a number of changes.

At present, there are approximately six (6) different Industrial Zones and it is being proposed to reduce these to three (3) main zones, being: General Industrial (I1), Heavy Industrial (I2) and Community Waste Management (I3).

It is being proposed to introduce a number of new uses to the I1 Zone and to clarify the definition of other uses and to consolidate the the Industrial (Mixed) Four (I4) Zone found in the Electoral Area “D-2” Zoning into the I1 Zone with the I4's allowance for residential uses being addressed through a site specific regulation.  The Regional District is also proposing to relax the setbacks in the I1 Zone.

It is being proposed to introduce "public maintenance and works yards” as a permitted use in the I2 Zone and to consolidate the Industrial (Specialised) Three (I3) Zones, where appropriate. 

The Community Waste Management Zone currently applies to the OK Falls landfill and it is being proposed to apply this same zone to the Oliver and Osoyoos landfills.

Under Section 473 of the Local Government Act, an Official Community Plan (OCP) Bylaw must include statements respecting the approximate location, amount and type of present and proposed industrial land.

At present, the Electoral Area “E” OCP Bylaw is not seen to meet this requirement as it is silent on existing and future industrial areas, while Administration is proposing to rezone the sole industrial parcel in Electoral Area “F” back to Resource Area (RA) which will result in its OCP no longer meeting the requirements of Section 473.

To address this, the Regional District is proposing to introduce the text applied to the recently adopted Electoral Area “D-1” OCP Bylaw — which similarly does not designate any lands for Industrial purposes — to the Electoral Area “E” & “F” OCP Bylaws and which may be summarized as follows:

… the Regional District is not designating any areas for proposed industrial uses. The Regional District may consider designating land for proposed industrial uses on a case-by-case basis if or when demand warrants.