At the public hearing last night, city council gave the green light to a large supportive housing development in Glenmore Valley.
It will allow for townhomes along with an amenity building and an independent senior's living facility to the south.
Property Owner, Ed Hall with Springdale Properties Regency Retirement Resorts, said the project will address a critical need in the community.
Part of the development, in collaboration with NOW Canada Society and Kelowna’s Women Shelter, will offer 31 supportive townhouses for women and children fleeing violence.
“It’s a shocking number, statistically in Canada about half the women that approach a shelter environment are turned away. So this will certainly help to relieve that situation,” said Hall.
It will include a gym, spaces for children inside and out, a library, offices, and a coffee bar and meeting space.
The second half of the project will include a 5-storey building with 162 units for seniors.
According to Hall, the project was designed to give an enriched environment for all parties involved.
“We're anticipating that the kids will come over and visit the seniors in the senior’s homes. We're also anticipating that number of these women might seek employment [with us].”
Springdale will employ around 60 full time positions at the senior’s facility, which Hall believes would be a perfect fit for mothers living on the site.
Area residents expressed concerns about increased traffic on Valley Road and lack of traffic light at the Kane road intersection.
Mayor Colin Basran agreed with comments made and directed city staff to look into it.
“Given the fact that we're going to have the Glenmore Recreational Park across the street, I just want us to be very cognisant of finding ways to safely get people from this development across the street to the park. Because it's such a busy road, I think we just need to flag that and make sure that we have safe access to that park, which is also going to be a tremendous asset as well as this development to that area,” said Basran.
The development will be located at 330 Valley Road and require the completion of Glenpark Drive.