Mixed-use project too big for Kelowna city council
Mixed-use proposal for corner in Lower Mission rejected
A mixed-use development for a busy Lower Mission corner has been defeated by Kelowna city council.
Council voted 5-4 on Monday not to advance a proposal for nine homes and 10,000 square feet of commercial space at the southwest corner of Lakeshore Road and Collett Road to a public hearing.
“I don’t think this is a modestly scaled proposal,” Coun. Luke Stack said. “It’s a maximum-scaled proposal. It’s triple the density that should be permitted on this site.”
The proposed building would have been four storeys, while the current height limit is 2.5 storeys.
“It’s just way too much for that location,” said Coun. Mohini Singh.
The property is the former site of the Minstrel Cafe, which at times drew considerable vehicle traffic to the area, several councillors noted.
Current zoning for the site would allow for uses such as a gas bar, which some council members said would likely be even less well-received by neighbours than the mixed-use project would have been.
Mayor Colin Basran was among the minority of council members who wanted to advance the project to a public hearing. He said it was a “really great concept.”
Voting against the proposed development were Stack, Singh and councillors Brad Sieben, Maxine DeHart and Charlie Hodge. Favouring it were Basran, and councillors Tracy Gray, Ryan Donn and Gail Given.
Given said the corner was becoming increasingly commercialized and the proposed multiuse project would have been in keeping with the area’s transformation.