Kamloops council furthers plan to expand potential tax exemptions to Fulton Field

“It’s a targeted approach,” Councillor Bill Sarai, who also chairs the Kamloops Airport Authority Society, said. “It’s something that we were lacking in our city and we want to dangle a carrot to entice development.”

“We’ve done it with housing, we don’t build housing. We’ve done with with hotels, we don’t build hotels. We’ve done it with commercial space downtown because we want to have some vibrancy downtown, and now this is a carrot that I believe [will] help us separate ourselves form other airports.”

While other revitalization tax exemptions are offered for 10 years, the length of this exemption – should the initiative be finalized – has yet to be determined. Sarai said it’ll likely depend on the type of business and the amount of investment that is being made.

“There are variations – three, five, seven, 10 – that all depends on the appetite of council and what type of business we’re looking for,” Sarai said, noting city staff expect to return to council next month with potential options.

It’ll take several years – if not decades – to develop the roughly 682 acres (276 hectares) of available land at Kamloops Airport, which was rezoned in 2024 to allow a broader range of commercial, industrial and airport-related uses.

“We’ve got roads punched in and water and sewer is ready to go,” Sarai said. “We’ve already had a few new tenants come in but in reality, a lot of the developers are looking for foot traffic or traffic counts and as you can imagine, we don’t have that right now per se to attract new businesses.”

The hope is that those new businesses will also eventually lead to more flights to and from Kamloops.

“We are building for the future. We have a long-term commitment here in Kamloops and we have a long-term vision,” Jim Moroz, the managing director at Kamloops Airport said. “In that vision, we’ll see a hotel here at some point. But we’re starting now with the development of phase 1, which is light industrial, commercial and indoor recreation.”

There are approximately 97 available lots at Kamloops Airport ready to be developed ranging from an acre to 10 acres (0.4 hectare to four hectares) in size. It’ll be developed in phases and airport officials say whatever kind of business people have ideas for, there is probably room for them at Kamloops Airport.

“If you can think of a business that can get a business licence from the city of Kamloops, they can set up shop somewhere on the airport lands,” Sarai added. “It could be from recreation to hotels to light industry as well as hair dressers to a day care to a gas bar and a coffee shop.”

What also sets Kamloops apart is the available of lots that have access to the runway and tarmac at Fulton Field. Those lands will be saved for aviation-related businesses as airport officials solidify their plans, and once the tax exemption program expansion is finalized.

“The lots that both access airside and groundside are certainly unique value to the airport and to a client as well,” Moroz said. “We have some of those available and we’d be happy to meet with anyone.”

by Victor Kaisar

Kamloops council furthers plan to expand potential tax exemptions to Fulton Field

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