Juniper Heights, Kamloops, British Columbia Real Estate and Homes for Sale

Juniper Heights is a community located in the city of Kamloops, British Columbia. It is situated at the south-east end of the city on a hillside south of the South Thompson River. There is a convenience store at the entrance to the community. The area is serviced by an elementary school. It is accessible only by one road, Highland Drive, however a formerly washed out dirt road has been refilled allowing emergency access to the Rose Hill area. Most of the streets in this neighborhood are named after rivers in the province, such as: Skeena, Nechako, Omineca, Babine, Coldwater, etc...Tennis courts and ice rink with bright lighting are located at juniper park.Prior to 1971, the 1,050-acre (4.2 km²) Cordonier ranch, which occupied the lands now known as Juniper Ridge, was used as for the grazing of sheep during the spring on their passage from the Kamloops area to Crowfoot mountain in the Shuswap. The beginnings of the housing development now known as Juniper Ridge was originally known as The Hesperia Development Project, with the land being owned by Hesperia Development Limited. The beginning of project in particular was initiated by Brentwood Estates Limited in late 1970. The Municipality of Valleyview (now a community within the municipality of Kamloops) accepted a report detailing the proposed community as submitted on August 4, 1971. Shortly after the approval of this preliminary report, Hesperia Development Limited filed an application with the Town of Valleyview to be included within the town's limits. This was eventually done in March 1972.On December 10, 1971, The Hesperia Development Project was sold to Juniper Lands Ltd based out of Vancouver, BC. Juniper Lands LTD was owned jointly by Hesperia and Tierra Properties. Subsequently Tierra Properties was appointed manager of the project. At this same time, the name of the project was changed to The Juniper Lands Project. The plan for the development of this land was submitted to the Municipality of Valleyview by Mr. Lawrence J. Rogers, the President of Juniper Lands and Tierra Properties and Mr Alfredo J. Luz of Townley Matheson and Partners on August 4, 1971. At this time, Juniper Lands owned all portions of what is now known as Juniper Ridge with the exception of small parcels along Highland Drive, which, in 1972 provided access solely to Valleyview park.One of the goals of the project was to provide housing in the Kamloops region which, at the time, was experiencing a housing shortage after an increase in government assistance in home purchases. In addition, all flat lands along the South Thompson River and western banks of the North Tompson had been fully developed at this time. In the original proposal, it was suggested that this community would serve as an example of a self-sufficient satellite community which would be less reliant upon the services provided within the city of Kamloops. This self-reliance, however, has to date not been fully achieved.