Townhouse project proposed for Peachland’s Beach Avenue
Town council to consider rezoning for 3-storey, 7-suite development today
The remaking of Beach Avenue in Peachland, a goal long sought by the town but a process not without public controversy, would continue with plans for a seven-suite townhouse project on a standardwidth lot.
A ranch-style home built in 1958 at 4364 Beach Ave. would be demolished to make way for a three-storey modern, long and narrow structure with a curved roof and big square windows.
Town council will consider the proposed development and necessary property rezoning today, with municipal staff recommending it be advanced to a public hearing for citizen comment.
“It is a different type of development, that’s for sure,” Mayor Cindy Fortin said Monday.
The developer and town staff say the project, while representing a much more intensive land use, conforms to municipal objectives of increasing the number of people who live downtown and making better use of existing infrastructure.
Peachland’s official community plan calls for sections of Beach Avenue to be transformed with “more multiple family buildings (to) protect rural areas from sprawl,” town staff note in a report to council.
However, a five-storey project recently approved by council for a property farther south on Beach Avenue generated considerable opposition. About 1,000 people signed petitions against that development, which consists of 10 homes plus 10,000 square feet of commercial and office space.
“It will stick out at first, but people will get used to it,” Fortin said in June when council approved that project.
The proposal now before the town involves only residential suites and, at three storeys, conforms to the building limits, so a height variance isn’t required.
At an open house on the project hosted by the developer in October, about 25 people filled out a survey on the townhouse proposal. Twenty people said they supported the building’s form and character, but there was some concern about the reduced side yards that would be required.
“Excellent design for the building,” one person wrote on a comment card. “It’s ugly,” said another. The property at 4364 Beach Ave. had an assessed value of $827,000 in 2016 but in March 2017 sold for $1.2 million.