(JOHN MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)

Kelowna city council discussed and reluctantly carried a motion today to continue on with the province’s new infill housing rules.

The next stage of the provincial infill housing legislation will allow up to four to six units on single-family lots.

Ryan Smith, the city’s director of planning, told council today, Feb. 26, the new legislation won't bring "a tidal wave of change" to Kelowna neighbourhoods.

He assured council the legislation will only bring a “trickle of change to Kelowna’s neighbourhoods over time” that the city will be able to manage. 

Some of the councillors were less than convinced. None more so than Charlie Hodge.

READ MORE: No public hearing needed for infill housing in Okanagan, Kamloops

“I am really uptight and really angry about what we’ve been forced to do here,” Hodge said.

Hodge isn’t happy with the way the province has gone about implementing the new rules, adding that it is a situation best treated “with honey than with fire."

“I’m going to vote for this, but I’m really not happy about it,” he said.

Councillor Lovegrove also noted that the circumstances are not ideal, especially when it comes to heritage.

Smith and and other members of city staff assured council that development will take place predominantly in established neighbourhoods, near established services.

Although staff acknowledged that development in heritage sites is not ideal, they assured Kelowna is applying the legislation at a base level implementation.

Councillor Maxine Dehart said the new legislation is difficult for residents to understand.

READ MORE: More than 27,000 Kelowna lots targeted for more crowding with infill housing

“This is really hard for the public to understand,” she said. “In some ways, it's hard for us to understand how we got to this point.”

Mayor Tom Dyas has been in conversation with the BC Minister of Housing and has discussed both the public and council’s concerns at great length. According to Dyas, the minister is aware that discussions need to continue.

Councillor Luke Stack said the new legislation involved “the most comprehensive changes to zoning” he’s ever seen. Although he recognized that something needs to be done about the current housing crisis.

“By in large it does align with the direction we’ve been going in for many years now,” Stack said.

READ MORE: How Kelowna can help build housing faster all over BC

Councillor Loyal Woolridge was in agreement.

“The direction of the province isn’t that much different from what we had planned for," he said.

Woolridge said Kelowna’s cooperation with the province could put the city in good standing for future funding, like the Housing Accelerator Fund.

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