Kelowna not ready to adopt Vancouverism
Plan for more slender highrises paused for more talks
A city plan to make future Kelowna highrises significantly more slender, an approach known as ‘Vancouverism,” has been deferred.
Council was set Tuesday to debate a staff proposal to reduce the maximum upper floor area of residential towers by 40% and business towers by 30%.
But top city planner Ryan Smith asked council to defer discussion.
“Staff have had some additional consultation with stakeholders in the development industry on that item,” Smith told council.
“We’re recommending council defer it now to give staff a little bit of extra time to discuss different possible amendments to the bylaw. We may bring back amendments if that consultation leads to any changes,” Smith said.
Council accepted Smith’s deferral proposal with no debate.
Currently, the upper floors of a Kelowna highrise can encompass 1,221 square metres. Staff’s proposal was to reduce that to 850 square metres for a commercial or hotel building, and to 750 square metres for a residential tower.
The rationale, staff say, is to preserve view corridors, reduce shadowing on adjacent properties, and to create a more pleasing streetscape.
The promotion of more slender highrise towers is sometimes referred to as ‘Vancouverism’, referring to the city where the development approach was first advocated by municipal leaders.
Larry Beasley, a former City of Vancouver planning director who last year wrote a book called ‘Vancouverism’, will participate in a Feb. 25 webinar hosted by the Kelowna branch of the Urban Development Institute.
Tall and slender highrises, Beasley wrote in his book, ensure maximum light, air, and pleasing views for residents and pedestrians, while also providing the increased housing density that makes for more vibrant neighbourhoods and more efficient public transit.
But critics, such as UBC professors Jamie Peck and Elvin Wyly, have suggested the proliferation of luxury highrises in Vancouver contributed to greatly escalating home prices.
Others have suggested ‘Vancouverism’ gives too much power to municipal planners to negotiate the details of highrise projects with inadequate public consultation.