UBCO gets knuckles rapped over back road campus access

KELOWNA – It may be a case of a few rule breakers wrecking it for everyone else.

UBC Okanagan has announced an agreement with Curtis Rd. residents to reopen the private road in North Glenmore to limited use by a limited number of staff and students. The road has been closed to UBCO since Feb. 2.

UBCO lawyer Hubert Lai said in a statement that only staff and students working or attending classes in the Reichwald Health Sciences Centre or the Creative and Critical Studies building can use the popular back road into the campus.

This has been the rule since UBCO lost a court case over unrestricted access to the route in 2012, Lai said. The latest decision from B.C. Supreme Court reinforces the rule by requiring a plan from the university on how it will improve compliance. Without it, the judge in the case threatened to suspend the easement that allows the university to use the road.

On Monday, Lai said the judge had approved the plan and that all UBCO students have been sent a message outlining the restrictions and urging them to comply with the court ruling. He also said campus security will be patrolling the road on a regular basis, with trespassers, either on foot or on a bike, subject to prosecution.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infotelnews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.