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(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

Developers will be making a pitch to Penticton city council to build 686 homes in the community's Wilste neighbourhood.

It is the “last large urban growth area in Penticton and a notable opportunity to address the City’s housing supply shortage,” according to a City of Penticton media release.

The proposed site is in the Wilste neighbourhood, which is on the east end of the city and to the north of Skaha Bluffs.

There are 109 acres between two parcels of land at 850 Wiltse Blvd. and 160 Crow Pl. The land is designated for future residential development, and has been since the City’s first Official Community Plan was adopted in 1982, the City says.

Among the 686 homes developers are asking permission to build, 183 will be single-detached homes, 28 duplex units and 475 multi-family units.

A main collector road would also be built between Wiltse Boulevard and Partridge Drive. The project would include three crescent roads, several cul-de-sacs and two rear lanes, as well as parks, walkways and wildlife trails.

READ MORE: Penticton unveils 'dream' for city's north entrance

Some of the property would be designated for conservation and rural residential.

“The applicants are not proposing any new OCP land use designations than what currently exists but only to amend the locations of the future land use designations on the property to facilitate rezoning the land for residential development,” Penticton's director of development services Blake Laven said in the release.

“The applicants are also applying for zoning that will change the current agricultural zoning to a mix of residential zones.”

If council goes ahead with amending the OCP, adequate and meaningful consultation with the community will happen before any final decisions are made, the City says.

“We’re eager to hear from residents so that any potential impacts may be addressed as the proposal works its way through the approval process,” Laven.

Penticton's population was recorded at 36,885 in the 2021 Census. 

Members of the public can share their thoughts between April 11 and May 8 during the community engagement period. New information will be posted online at the city's website Shape Your City Penticton.

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