OPINION

In my opinion, Abbott Street will be lost to development in the near future. The Heritage Advisory Committee has been disbanded by the city. The city has designated the area as Core Area Neighbourhood which allows for apartment buildings, townhouses, commercial, etc., and the design guidelines for the area are not being followed.

Abbott Street is part of the Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area which was established in 1998. It is this designation that has protected the heritage conservation area from development. The area extends from Harvey Avenue to Kelowna General Hospital and generally from Pandosy Street to Okanagan Lake.

The Abbott area was laid out in 1904, one year before Kelowna was incorporated. The heritage houses have signs describing the early city community leaders who lived there and the unique features of the houses. The houses are scaled to the lots. Many of the large trees also have signs. The area has its own heritage house walking tour brochure. It is a low traffic area. People throughout Kelowna and visitors alike love to walk, cycle, run, etc. through this area. However, soon there won’t be a need for the signs or the brochure.

The volunteer heritage advisory committee was dissolved about three years ago. Kelowna Planning Department now make the approval decisions. New builds before that time fit into the neighbourhood. The design guidelines are no longer followed and the new replacement houses are large and cover much of the lot. Trees are being cut down and the green space paved over. This is happening in the heritage conservation area, one property at a time. If this pattern continues, the tree canopy and the coolness it brings in the summer will be gone. The area will be bare, the houses large -overwhelming what houses will be left.  

Kelowna Planning Department came up with a new land use when writing the 2040 Official Community Plan in 2020 called Core Area Neighbourhood. This was to allow multifamily housing throughout the city’s residential areas. The planning department included the heritage conservation areas, the Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area and a smaller Marshall Street Heritage Conservation Area, into Core Area Neighbourhood.

Many efforts were made by the public to Kelowna City Council over the last several years, to remove the heritage conservation areas from the Core Area Neighbourhood land use. These efforts have not been successful. The heritage conservation areas are at risk for multifamily development. The city staff have recommended upzoning in different parts of the heritage conservation areas and so the edges have been nibbled at. Now there is the risk of townhouses in the heritage conservation area.

The proposal at the Cadder House Property, if successful will set a precedent and have a severe detrimental effect on the heritage conservation areas. One by one, as houses come up for sale, they will be able to be torn down and replaced with townhouses.  The trees will be gone, the history will be gone unless this is stopped.  The key thing is that the Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area is less than 0.5 km2 and occupies less than 0.5% of the city and yet the city is letting this go…bit by bit.

How hard is it for the city to say, “lets save this little jewel for the people”? I think it is time to ask the city to speak up and say this. Most Canadian cities have put real effort into preserving their historical areas as prime tourist spots.

It is my view that the beautiful Abbott Street area will be lost to development in the near future. The Heritage Advisory Committee has been disbanded by the city. The city has left the area as Core Area Neighbourhood which allows for apartment buildings, townhouses, commercial, etc., despite efforts by the public to reverse this, and the design guidelines for the area are not being followed. There is a saying: “I just turned around and it was gone”.

— Susan Ames - President of the South-Central Association of Neighbourhoods (KSAN)
The Abbott Street and Marshall Street Heritage Conservations Areas are located in the KSAN area

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