Property of north of Thompson Rivers University could be developed to accommodate more than 200 housing units.
Image Credit: City of Kamloops
September 24, 2013 - 2:29 PM
KAMLOOPS – After some hesitation over whether now is the right time to be considering rezoning properties, city council agreed to send a proposal to amend the official community plan to allow for 88 new housing units north of the Thompson Rivers University campus and west of Summit Drive to a public hearing.
The official community plan, which outlines future development areas, is currently under review and while that gave councillors some pause they ultimately decided to agree to see what the public had to say instead of potentially delaying the project upwards of a few years while waiting for the plan to be completed.
"Could this wait? Potentially it could, however when it comes to private dev we like to move forward in timely manner," development director Marvin Kwiatkowski told council.
Four separate parcels of land would be used to house single family and multi-family units as described in a comprehensive plan submitted to the city. The plan outlines four phases of development and a range of potential issues from pedestrian traffic to the environmental impacts. Only the first two phases were before council Tuesday.
The first two phases of development, the Taylor property, could accommodate 88 units while the third phase proposed for property currently owned by the Ministry of Transportation, could add another 22 units. The fourth phase would be on the land owned by the university and could add another 110 units. All but the first phase would include multi-family units at either a low or medium density rating and would see a mix of townhouses and apartments.
The land has been used for extraction for 30 years and features steep slopes and a gully along the western portion of the property. The university already owns part of the land and has designated that area as predominantly residential future growth as part of the draft master plan.
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This story was last updated at 9:02 a.m., Sept. 25, 2013.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013