Last night Kelowna City Council rezoned a property in Glenmore Valley to facilitate the development of a mixed housing project.
The proposal is for a 5-storey senior's housing building and separate supportive housing for women and children
A concern was raised about insufficient parking, asking if people would end up parking on the streets.
Ed Hall, with Regency Retirement Resorts, explained that they try to provide all parking necessary on their sites.
“We planned double the required parking. 123 stalls versus the required 62 I believe. We talked to planning and I shared with them our experience at all our other retirement resorts with staff, visitors and resident parking. We have the history to know we need that level of parking and they agreed with me,” said Hall.
He did admit, however, that the townhouses do offer less parking, as they anticipate more bike stalls needed and less cars being used by the occupants.
Councillor Luke Stack disagreed.
“I’ve done a lot of non-profit family housing and we’ve always found the city parking requirement is fully needed, although many of the tenants, some work and some don’t, we’ve found that the parking spaces are always consumed. We always plan for full parking in our family housing,” said Stack.
Mayor Colin Basran clarified that council will consider form and character of the project at a later date.
Overall, councillors agreed the proposal is a great example of the type of additional rental housing and attainable housing needed in Kelowna and were happy to support the motion.
“This development ticks off a lot of our objectives and it’s just really nice to see further development of non-profit housing in the community. Not mention the seniors housing that Mr. Hall does which is also very welcome and needed,” said Councillor Stack.
The project will also complete Glenpark Drive, which will connect Drysdale Blvd. to Valley Rd.