New homes eyed for 28,000 Kelowna lots
The development potential of almost 28,000 Kelowna properties would be affected by new zoning bylaws expected to receive city council approval on Monday.
Generally, the changes will allow for significantly more new homes in both urban and agricultural areas to comply with new provincial legislation intended to address a province-wide shortage of housing.
Councillors have expressed some wariness about the looming changes, and accompanying regulations that significantly reduce the opportunity for public comment on new development, while also signalling their support for the goal of diversifying and increasing Kelowna’s overall housing stock.
“In November 2023, the provincial government passed several new pieces of housing legislation that apply across the province and impact the City of Kelowna’s land use planning framework,” states a staff report to council.
“Local governments must update their bylaws by June 2024 to meet the new provincial requirements,” the report says. “Staff recommendations include a series of amendments to complement the provincial mandates to ensure practical and sensitive integration within the existing development framework.”
In some ways, Kelowna’s housing policies have been ahead of the new provincially-mandated regulations. For several years, the city has been allowing up to four new housing units to be built on hundreds of lots in areas close to downtown.
A key rationale has been to make better use of existing municipal infrastructure, such as roads, water, and sewer lines, while also encouraging people to live closer to major employment centres to reduce commuting times.
New homes also help make the older neighbourhoods more architecturally interesting and the population increase supports the economic viability of nearby businesses, the city says.
The approach has resulted in hundreds of new homes replacing single-family houses that, in many cases, dated back to the 1940s. But expectations the new homes would reach the market at socalled affordable prices have largely unfulfilled.
That’s in part because the in-fill housing strategy, which has been accompanied by city measures to close-off development of properties on the city’s fringes, has resulted in a significant increase in land values in built-up areas.
As a result of the provincial direction for municipalities to allow more new housing in established neighbourhoods, the city is proposing to simplify its current zoning bylaws.
In the core areas of Kelowna, which consist mainly of the neighborhoods adjacent to and connecting the five main urban centres, there are approximately 11,100 existing lots. Four new homes could be built on approximately 9,000 of these lots, while 2,160 of the lots are big enough to support six new homes, the city says.
An even larger category are the 13,400 suburban residential lots, defined as properties within the city’s permanent growth boundary and connected to water and sewer lots. Up to four new homes could be built on these lots.
Secondary suites and carriage homes would be permitted on approximately 2,675 lots in farming areas that are at least 10,000 square metres in size.
In the Abbott Street-Marshall Street Heritage Conservation Area, which has about 375 properties that include some of Kelowna’s oldest and most visually appealing homes, up to four new homes could be built on a typical lot. The city has long had special development rules in place for the neighborhoods, south of Harvey Avenue and close to downtown, but municipal officials say the new provincial guidelines for higher density housing must also apply to such areas.
Housing density will also be increased around Kelowna General Hospital, and in the areas immediately adjacent to transit hubs.
As councillors have learned at recent meetings of the impact of the new provincial housing regulations, some of them have expressed misgivings about the size and scope of the changes.
“This is a whole major, a bit of an upheaval of the province,” Coun. Maxine DeHart said at the Jan. 15 meeting. “It’s going to change the face of our cities, no doubt.”
There has also been concern about the provincial edict for councils to not hold public hearings if a development proposal aligns with a municipality’s official community plan.
“This legislation, in my mind, smashes one of the toes on our feet ... I feel very hindered by this and I take exception to it as a councillor,” Coun. Charlie Hodge said at the same meeting.
But other councillors noted the provincial approach is not too dissimilar from moves the city has already been taking to increase the housing stock in Kelowna. “I do see a lot of alignment between the provincial policy and the direction we’ve already been taking in Kelowna,” said Coun. Luke Stack.
Coun. Gord Lovegrove also expressed his support for the new provincially-mandated housing regulations: “It’s overwhelming but it’s exciting more,” he said.
Three male suspects are in custody following a suspected break and enter early Friday morning in the 4000 block of Swaisland Road in Kelowna.
Officers were told about the break and enter in which items were stolen including a 2004 blue Polaris Sportsman 400cc quad.
Shortly after, police tracked a suspicious vehicle and arrested three men, all who are known to police. Upon a search of the vehicle several stolen items were uncovered related to the break and enter. Police continue to search for the stolen quad.
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