Warehouse stores shooed from airport business park
Report to Kelowna council recommends against creating another commercial node along highway
Kelowna’s airport business park should retain a focus on industrial and high-tech operations and not be opened up for big box stores and other commercial ventures, city staff say.
Allowing the kind of uses that were never foreseen for the park could worsen traffic congestion, put pressure on city infrastructure and undermine the vitality of other commercial areas, municipal planners will tell city councillors on Monday.
“The purpose and intent of the airport business park was to provide for a planned business park that supports high technology and general industrial uses that complement the activities of the airport and UBCO,” reads part of a report to council.
In recent years, the city has been fielding many inquiries from developers eager to build in the park, located directly across Highway 97 from the airport.
However, some of these inquiries are for projects like fast-food restaurants, car dealerships and big box stores. There have even been proposals for a marijuana growing facility.
Staff say the city’s intention for the airport business park has been clear for many years: “Not to create another highway-oriented commercial node.”
The report says that “warehouse sales” were of particular concern as they would draw many vehicles and spur other commercial development in what’s supposed to be an industrial and high-tech area.
Last November, council deferred a decision on whether to approve a six-storey hotel for 1915 Pier Mac Way, pending an updated report from staff about the city’s intentions for the airport business park.