Reject trio of towers: city staff
A massive new development for downtown Kelowna, with highrises of up to 33 storeys along Coronation Avenue, should be rejected by the city, councillors will hear Monday.
The proposal, which would stretch along the 500 and 600 blocks of the street, is outside the city-specified areas where such tall towers would normally be allowed, council will hear. Only 12-storey buildings are envisioned along Coronation Avenue, municipal officials say.
“The proposal, as submitted, significantly deviates from this plan,” top municipal planner Ryan Smith writes in a report to council.
As depicted in current plans, the development would have tower heights of 33 storeys, 27 storeys, and 20 storeys. Just over 700 units are shown, in a mix of hotel rooms, condos, and rental suites.
Since the proposal’s scope greatly exceeds what the existing zoning would allow for, city staff worked with the developer with a view to downsizing the project. But the developer has chosen to bring its preferred design to council for consideration.
Council adopted a new process last year for projects that are well outside identified planning guidelines to be given early consideration, without municipal staff or the applicant spending considerable amounts of time and resources on the proposal.
The developer says the proposal’s appeal is the provision of a variety of housing types, skyline enhancement through well-designed buildings of varying height, and “contextual sensitivity and urban edge to blend into the future urban landscape of downtown Kelowna.”
While of a considerable scale, the developer says the proposal would nevertheless fit into the changing nature of downtown Kelowna, as exemplified by other towers under construction or planned, the new UBC Okanagan campus, and eventual re-development of the old Tolko mill site.