The City of Penticton is waiting for a decision from the Agricultural Land Commission to find out if an oversight on their part will have an impact on the pending sale of a Munson Mountain property.
In July, council voted 5-1 to sell one of the Munson Mountain parcels that has been on the market for close to a year. The approximately 10-acre lot at 1125 Munson Ave. was sold to Rajeev and Ritvy Sheoran for $1.2 million. But, upon doing a title search, the prospective buyers found a mistake. In 1976 the city approved a building permit for a dwelling with the condition that the original dwelling on the property (built in 1958) be demolished so only one house remained on the parcel. The Agricultural Land Commission put a condition that the second dwelling had to be removed on or before April 24, 2000. This never occurred.
"When the City of Penticton got that property we didn't do a search on it. It was a mistake on our part ... the buyers found it when they did a title search on the property and now we are having to try and rectify that," said Mayor Dan Ashton. "We are asking for a time frame extension from the Agricultural Land Commission."
The lease extension would allow the dwelling to be on the property for an additional 30 years, with an expiry date in 2041. City staff provided supporting information that extending the original lease will have no detrimental impact on the agricultural character of the property. Ashton said he does not know if the Agricultural Land Commission decision will have any weight in finalizing the sale of the property.
"Not yet it hasn't, but we have to try and get permission from the Agricultural Land Commission and that is what we are doing. That may be a future hurdle, but right now we are hoping the commission will see our point on it," said Ashton.
City council is hoping for a decision to be made by the commission by the Sept. 6 regular council meeting.