Revised plans for a major Lakeshore Road development with 1,000 homes were approved Tuesday by Kelowna city council.
Two of the 16 buildings will be 17 storeys tall, and one will be 14 storeys; previously, the height limit was 11 storeys. An appealing feature of allowing the taller buildings is the provision of more open space on the ground, councillors said.
All the units to be built on the former site of the Hiawatha mobile home park will be rental properties, and the revised plans include a 100-child daycare.
“This plan before us is greatly enhanced,” Mayor Colin Basran said. “This site has sat quiet for far too long. I look forward to seeing it fully built.”
Other councilors also praised the all-rental nature of the project, the creation of a linear park along Wilson Creek, and the fact the project will contribute millions of dollars in revenue for the city to buy and develop new parkland.
While some citizen opposition was raised to the project during a public hearing, with concerns relating to traffic impacts and the overall scope of the project, the city granted approval to the development many years ago, though only limited construction has begun.
“The development and management of large rental communities is Westcorp’s core business model and has been for over 40 years,” company representative Gail Temple told council. “Our objective with this project is to create and manage one of the finest rental communities in this country.”
count Luke Stack acknowledged the concerns of some community members, but he noted that the project itself would form a community in years to come.
“It’s a community of tomorrow, but it’s still a community,” Stack said, adding Westcorp had come up with a “better design” for building layout and open spaces on the site.
Opposition to the project from some people was also noted by Coun. Loyal Wooldridge, who said the city always faced challenges in providing new housing for people moving to Kelowna.
“Changing community is never comfortable. That’s what we face every single day when we’re approving housing to accommodate more and more people,” Wooldridge said. “Purpose-built rental is more than welcome at all price points in our city, and we have to continue to push that forward.”
Overall, the development’s changes were a “dramatic improvement” from what had originally been envisioned, Coun. Ryan Don said.
