A barrage of complaints from Del Oro residents prompted regional directors to deny a business owner the permit he needs to park vehicles and equipment on his property.

But Lynx Creek Industrial and Hydrovac owner Clayton Crawford told The Daily News he’s prepared to argue his case in front of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board at a meeting Dec. 6.

Crawford built a shop on is Durango Road property and wants to use it to store the tools of his trade, he said. Crawford operates a water and sewer maintenance business.

In order to do that he’s had to jump through hoop after hoop, said Crawford.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said Thursday. “I go through the steps and they turn me down anyway.”

His most recent attempt was to obtain a temporary use permit from the TNRD because the land is classified within the Agricultural Land Reserve.

If approved, the permit would have allowed Crawford to use his property for commercial/industrial purposes for three years, Regina Sadilkova, director of development services, told regional directors at a meeting Thursday afternoon.

At the end of those three years, Crawford would need to re-apply if he wanted to continue using his land for such purposes, she said.

It’s the words commercial and industrial that spooked regional directors and Del Oro residents alike. Directors voted again the permit request, with the stipulation that Crawford could plead his case at a future board meeting.

Twenty-seven out of 28 Del Oro residents who responded to a TNRD survey in July said they don’t support light industrial or commercial land use in the rural neighbourhood, a small community east of Kamloops.

John Sternig, the director for Heffley Creek, understands why. He said industrial use isn’t appropriate for a country area and comes with the potential for environmental damage.

“This has to be a concern. To me, this is a no brainer,” he said.

Crawford reiterated that all he wants to do is park his vehicle and equipment in a garage on his property.

“In their minds, this is classified as commercial,” he said. “It makes us criminals, more or less.”