City reins in suburbs

Kelowna council votes to limit new homes in suburbs, promote growth in high-density neighbourhoods

A revised urban growth scenario aims to significantly limit new home construction in Kelowna’s suburbs.

City council on Monday embraced a plan that will dramatically change the official community plan. Some areas long designated for future residential development under the OCP will instead be closed to new construction.

The vote was 5-4, with supporters saying the move will help focus growth in established town centres, encourage the construction of more multi-family projects, boost transit use and help create what they called a more livable city with higher-density neighbourhoods.

“I can’t help but think of (the children),” Mayor Colin Basran said. “The decisions we make today will impact the city they inherit.”

But critics warned closing off areas in Kelowna to the construction of new single-family homes will push up housing prices, deprive people of choice, and push new single-family home development to the neighbouring communities of West Kelowna and Lake Country, with the City of Kelowna losing out on new tax revenue.

“I think this is too much of a move,” Coun. Luke Stack said. “I don’t think we can just turn off the tap of supply for single-family homes.”

“We will force people into other communities,” Coun. Maxine DeHart warned.

“But they’ll still come back here to use our roads and facilities.”

The staff plan before council on Monday was to adopt a set of policies aimed at ensuring 49 per cent of all new housing units to be built by 2040 are constructed in one of five existing urban centres: downtown, central Rutland, South Pandosy, Capri-Landmark, and the area around Orchard Park Shopping Centre, which the city calls “Midtown.”

That plan projected that 33 per cent of all new homes would be built in suburban areas and 18 per cent of new homes would be built in other areas.

But the plan endorsed by council on Monday changes those percentages considerably. Now, the goal is to have 64 per cent of all new homes built in urban centres and just 19 per cent in suburban areas.

The most likely way the city will try to achieve a reduction in new home construction in suburban areas is to simply change the OCP and remove the development potential from currently vacant lands.

Stack said builders and other landowners would surely bristle at losing what he called “development rights.”

However, Basran countered that a future development designation under the official community plan does not, in fact, confer any such right.

Voting in favour of concentrating growth in urban centres and preventing new development in some suburban areas were Basran and councillors Loyal Wooldridge, Mohini Singh, Charlie Hodge and Ryan Donn.

Against were Stack, DeHart and councillors Gail Given and Brad Sieben.