Council borders on socialist state

I was dismayed to read the Ron Seymour story “Housing Battle Erupts” on the front page of the Daily Courier (March 4).

It seems that Kelowna City Council has decided to make a major change to the Official Community Plan (over a less radical recommendation of city planners). According to the story, the policy calls for “80 per cent of all new housing to be built in Kelowna between now and 2040 to consist of multi-family projects, with only 20 per cent in single family homes.”

I have a big problem with the City mandating a hard percentage target for multifamily versus single-family dwellings. This smacks of a socialist state telling people what kind of housing they should live in. The market should decide the relative portions of multi-family versus singlefamily housing. It is far more attuned to consumer wishes than any city politician or bureaucrat.

This kind of government meddling is going to lead to overvaluation of singlefamily houses (particularly in suburban areas) and undervaluation of multi-family housing. Single-family homes are likely to become relatively more expensive than they are now, while multi-family housing will become relatively less expensive.

So it will be “too bad” for families who want to live in a traditional house with a yard. They’re going to have to live in apartments, condos or townhouses because that’s what’s going to be built in volume. It will be a real change from what we’ve seen in Kelowna up until now.

It appears that Kelowna builders and developers are up in arms about this new policy, and rightly so. Their long-standing plans to develop suburban neighbourhoods (Wilden, Black Mountain, etc.) have been in place for years and have been carefully co-ordinated to meet the requirements of the City’s OCP. It seems that these previously approved plans will go into the shredder and the developers will have to start again from square one.

If this new development policy stands there’s going to be a backlash. It may start slowly, perhaps, but it will build until the next municipal election. Let’s remember the councillors who voted for this new policy: Mayor Colin Basran, Ryan Donn, Charlie Hodge, Mohini Singh, and Loyal Wooldridge. Those who voted against this nonsense: Luke Stack, Maxine Dehart, Gail Given and Brad Sieben.