Residents fear Naramata housing project will change neighbourhood
Following years of controversy and resistance from local residents, Penticton City Council is moving forward with a housing development on the Naramata Bench.
Some residents are concerned the development will harm endangered species and change the way of life in the area without helping the housing crisis.
The project will build 33 homes on one acre lots, and 12 acres of public parks at 1530 Reservoir Rd. The developer is Drew Barnes, a Penticton local.
The project includes building the infrastructure needed for a larger community like roads, sewer and water lines.
Following a public hearing on Sept. 12, city council voted to change the zoning bylaws in the area from 16 hectare agricultural and forestry lots to single acre lots which residents say is a significant change.
Many residents spoke against the zoning change at the public hearing including Gjoa Taylor a resident of Naramata Bench and a member of the grassroots organization Preserve Naramata Bench.
“Our biggest concern is having allowed the developer to go to one-acre lot sizes which could open up the whole Naramata Bench to development. They should not have allowed the Official Community Plan(zoning) change,” Taylor said.
Taylor says this type of development is not about helping the housing crisis.
“The problem is these are going to be multi-million dollar homes,” Taylor said.“How is putting in 33 homes that are outside the realm of the majority of Penticton folks going to help out the housing crisis? Everything I read about it says we need smaller, affordable homes connected to infrastructure.”
Preserve Naramata Bench has been vocal about their social and environmental concerns, focusing on endangered habitats and avoiding 'urban sprawl'.
Residents are worried about how the development will impact local wildlife, especially the last herd of grayback elk in the Okanagan, which live on the Naramata Bench.
“We see them grazing on the hillside, they are absolutely beautiful,” Taylor said. “If that land gets developed up there, they’re gone.”
Taylor says this plan is better than other development proposals for the area.
“Drew is a local person, I think he has good intentions and there’s a lot of things he’s done right in the sense of other developers that come out here from Surrey that just want to build 350 homes. He’s trying to do some things differently,” Taylor said.
Many residents want the area to stay how it is, and fear this development will make way for more projects which will make dense housing in the area rather than the current sparse country homes.
This project comes as Penticton’s population steadily grows and a nearby housing development on Spiller Road is at a standstill.
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