The province has greenlighted residents and businesses of SilverStar Mountain Resort to form an association, which could pave the way for economic benefits in the North Okanagan.
The Silver Star Marketing Task Force — comprised of interested stakeholders, property owners, businesses, hotels and the resort operator — put forward a proposal to start an association back in 2017 and on March 10, 2020, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing approved it.
SilverStar will be British Columbia’s fourth ski resort to establish an association like this.
The task force looked at practices used by the other three resort associations in B.C., which are Whistler, Sun Peaks and Red Mountain, when it designed its model and proposal.
With the association status, the Silver Star Resort Association (SSRA) is able to apply for grants and additional funding while creating a platform to advocate for the resort community within the Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) and the province.
The SSRA will help promote, facilitate and encourage the development, maintenance and operation of SilverStar, which in turn, will stimulate the local economy, create local jobs and generate provincial revenue.
Its primary goal is to “elevate the strength of Silver Star’s reputation as a year-round, family destination that delivers choice, quality and safety centered upon an integrated and supportive community,” the task force wrote in its newsletter.
The SSRA was approved by the RDNO in February 2018, which allowed it to move on to the next step: a petition.
The task force was successful in its efforts to gather enough petition signatures from landowners representing half of the property value within the resort’s boundaries later that year. The resort also filled the requirements of having a ski lift and year-round recreational area centre.
Now, the SSRA must sign up with the registrar of companies and elect its first board of directors before it can begin operations.
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