Developer tweaks 300-home proposal

With a rezoning application likely just a week away from entering the public realm, the company proposing a residential subdivision at the foot of the Naramata Bench is fine-tuning its pitch to the community.

Canadian Horizons has launched a new website for its Vinterra Penticton project, and reduced from 355 to 307 the number of homes it wants to build at 1050 Spiller Rd. – a 50-hectare swath of hillside immediately north of the Campbell Mountain Landfill.

Besides cutting the number of homes, Canadian Horizons has eliminated plans for multi-family units, meaning a mix of singlefamily dwellings only, all of which would comply with design guidelines in a contemporary farmhouse-vineyard style.

The developer has also bumped up from one-third to nearly one-half the total land that would be preserved as natural areas, such as parks, trails, animal corridors and buffers, including a 400-metre space around the landfill.

All of the changes resulted from an initial round of public consultation last summer, according to Nathan Hildebrand, vice-president of Surrey-based Canadian Horizons.

“We have a good sense as to what the concerns are out there and we’re obviously trying to address them as best we can,” he said.

“At the end of the day, we know not everybody’s going to be happy with what we’ve proposed.”

Hildebrand said a traffic impact analysis, which will be made public, shows Naramata Road will be able to handle the extra vehicles after Canadian Horizons pays for upgrades to two intersections on the way into Penticton. The company also plans to punch in a new road to Vinterra through a property it owns at 880 Naramata Rd.

An archeology impact assessment, conducted in co-operation with the Penticton Indian Band, found no further such work is required, according to Hildebrand.

However, the PIB last year stated its opposition to the project, which it claims would infringe on Indigenous peoples’ rights to use the land for food, social and ceremonial purposes.

Hildebrand said the company met with PIB officials to hear their concerns, but doesn’t ultimately require approval from the First Nation.

“All we can do is follow the process that’s placed in front of us,” said Hildebrand, who estimates the project would create 1,000 jobs and $100 million in new investment over a 10-year buildout.

The development site is already earmarked for growth in the Official Community Plan, which was updated in 2019, and in the Spiller Road/Reservoir Road Area Neighbourhood Concept Plan, which was adopted by council in 2014.

However, the land is zoned for country residential, meaning Canadian Horizons, the same company behind the newly sold-out 230-lot Sendero Canyon subdivision in Penticton, requires city council to rezone it for increased density. Minor OCP amendments will also now be required to accommodate parts of the updated plan.

Hildebrand expects that process to formally begin when the application is presented to council at its Feb. 16 meeting, which will be followed by a city-led public consultation process before any decisions are made.

Opponents will be ready.

Some of them last year formed the Society for the Preservation of the Naramata Bench to fight the project, which they suggest will be a blight on the pastoral landscape and open to the door to more development.

Society member David Kozier said Friday the updated proposal doesn’t address those concerns or others related to traffic, the environment, tourism and agriculture.

“From a high level, I think it’s really disappointing in that it’s not different from what they originally proposed: It’s still over 300 homes, which is just not appropriate for the area,” said Kozier, whose vineyard is directly west of the proposed development site.

“If they want support, they need to remove that (proposed new) road and they need to reduce the density significantly.”