Shuswap-North Okanagan Rail Trail
Image Credit: Submitted/Shuswap-North Okanagan Rail Trail
March 23, 2024 - 4:30 PM
A second public hearing will be held in Sicamous on April 10 to consider changes that will allow part of the Shuswap-North Okanagan Rail Trail to be built in that community.
Properties stretching about one kilometre along Mara Lake need to be rezoned in order to allow the start of the 50 kilometre trail to be built through there.
At a Feb. 14 public hearing for that rezoning, dock owners along Mara Lake spoke strongly against the rezoning. They have concerns about agreements the rail trail builders are trying to get them to sign because their docks actually attach to the rail trail right-of-way.
READ MORE: North Okanagan rail trail will be 1 km short after Sicamous council refused approval
They want that issue resolved before the rezoning goes through.
Council voted 4-3 to defeat the rezoning, which led the trail builders to announce they will start work on building the trail this year about 1.5 km south of its terminus at Highway 1. That will bypass the Mara Lake section in Sicamous.
Mayor Colleen Anderson called for a reconsideration so a new public hearing will be held.
“I called that... because we had a delegation that came in and they had done a petition, which had a few hundred names on it,” Anderson told iNFOnews.ca. “As mayor, it’s my job to listen to everyone, so that’s why I called for reconsideration,”
The online petition was started by Leanne Hamilton on and has 840 signatures on the way to the 1,000 goal. It extolls the virtues of the trail and asks for the reconsideration.
While some supporters attended the Feb. 14 meeting, there were not many of them, Anderson said.
“They were maybe not prepared for the opposition they would face,” she said. “I just need to make sure that all of our folks have a voice.”
Given the level of interest in the rezoning issue, and the fact that council chambers only have room for about 45 members of the public, the meeting will be held at the Sicamous and District Seniors Centre since it has seating for 150.
The hearing starts at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10.
The Shuswap-North Okanagan Rail Trail is owned by the regional districts of Columbia Shuswap and the North Okanagan along with the Splatsin First Nation.
Construction of sections of the trail are scheduled to start this year.
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