Residents have made and put up signs on their properties in protest of a new duplex development on Churchill Avenue.
(MEAGHAN ARCHER / iNFOnews.ca)
November 05, 2014 - 7:23 PM
PENTICTON - An unwanted double duplex development on Churchill Avenue will move forward despite disapproval from neighbours.
Residents of Churchill Avenue erected signs in protest of the development that was the subject of a public hearing Monday night. Residents raised concerns of traffic, parking and the style of housing.
Coun. Helena Konanz asked staff to look at resident-only parking and changing the bus routes so as not to go down Churchill. Coun. Judy Sentes supported the recommendation and said issues such as traffic and safety need to be addressed if the neighbourhood is as outspoken about them as Churchill residents are.
The majority of council supported the development, saying densification is important for affordable housing that young families are looking for. But Coun. Katie Robinson was strongly opposed.
“It’s very obvious to me that the neighbourhood does not want this,” said Coun. Katie Robinson.
The Official Community Plan is something the whole city buys into, it’s not neighbourhood by neighbourhood,” she said.
To go in and change the neighbourhood, and not the whole community plan, “I think it’s a broken promise to the people who bought into the neighbourhood,” she said.
Instead of drastically changing neighbourhoods, council may need to look into changing the community plan, that way people know what they are investing in and what to expect in their neighbourhoods, Robinson said.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Meaghan Archer at marcher@infotelnews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014