300-unit housing project on Kelowna hillside will go to public hearing
A 300-unit housing development on an environmentally sensitive Kelowna hillside will go to a public hearing after all.
The McCurdy Road project fit in with new provincial rules saying a public hearing was not needed because it was consistent with the city’s Official Community Plan and had staff support.
Because one councillor (Ryan Donn) was away from the meeting, there was a 4-4 tie vote on a motion to not send it to a public hearing. That meant that vote was lost. A follow-up motion to send it to public hearing did get the support of council.
READ MORE: Large housing project on sensitive Kelowna hillside slated for consideration without public hearing
This is where the whole new process gets complicated and controversial.
The new rules say that, if a project fits the vision of the Official Community Plan, it doesn’t need to go to the public. Yet, it appears, for this project the community plan was actually changed to accommodate the developer’s desire to build townhouses and condos on the site.
The developer is Troika Developments, which lists Kelowna-Mission MLA Renee Merrifield as its CEO.
“Back in 2011, when I first got on council, this was the first project that, actually, councillors (Gail) Given, (Mohini) Singh, (Maxine) DeHart and I had an opportunity to meet with a developer for the first time about an upcoming project,” Mayor Colin Basran said, speaking in favour of not holding a public hearing.
“This project has been in the works for a really long time. There have been other iterations so, we’ve already had two public hearings for various iterations of this project. But, knowing full well that we were going to see something here, the OCP was amended for this very reason, so this is consistent with the OCP for a number of years.”
Out of that group of councillors mentioned by the mayor, only Given voted with Basran to not have a public hearing.
“This is a very large project,” Coun. Hodge said in leading the charge to take the development to the public. “It’s on a mountainside. It’s a hillside development. People want to be a part of it, or at least be aware of it, have some input.
"I have some environmental concerns so I think it would be nice to have a public hearing. The developer hears it. The public hears it. It behooves us to take a project of this magnitude to a public hearing.”
Other councillors pointed out that the land use was not at issue since it had long been envisioned for multifamily. The real issue is the form and character of the buildings and that could be open for public input at the development permit stage.
Coun. Brad Sieben pointed out that issues raised at the public hearing could influence the ultimate form and character of the project.
Councillors Singh and DeHart joined Sieben and Hodge in voting against waiving the public hearing.
Basran did support Hodge’s motion to send the development to public hearing, and he was clearly flustered.
“I want this project to move forward, so I’m not going to vote against this going to public hearing,” he said.
The mayor took a different stand during discussion about a three-unit housing development on Pandosy Street with staff recommending it not go to public hearing. The land had already been rezoned but the owner wanted to put an “r” on the zone, meaning they would be rental units in perpetuity. That would allow for one less parking stall.
Staff recommended not going to public hearing but a number of people had written letters of opposition.
“The public deserves to be heard because this owner, in my opinion, has not been a very good property owner,” Basran said.
In the end, that rezoning application was simply defeated.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
