Heritage needs better protection in Abbott area

A developer purchased a heritage house (Murchison House, 1781 Abbott St) in the Abbott Heritage Conservation Area (HCA). The house was very livable (personal viewing).

The developer just received a commercial permit to convert the house to commercial use and a two-family residential permit to construct a two-storey modern duplex in the backyard, addressed as 1773 and 1775 Abbott St. (once the house is moved to the front of the lot).

All this under a Heritage Revitalization Agreement, which does not allow the commercial use of the heritage house nor the construction of the duplex.

This project broke all the rules. How did this happen? The neighbourhood association reached out numerous times to the planning department, to council, and to the developer but could not get this stopped.

Members of the community and the neighbourhood association opposed this development at the public hearing. It seems the developer had the ear of the planning department and council.

Why do residents and their associations have no voice in city decisions which affect the health and well-being of their neighbourhoods?

This is why we don’t want the HCA lumped under the general future land use designation of Core Area Neighbourhood in the 2040 OCP, which puts the HCA under more risk for development.

Susan Ames, president, Kelowna South Central Association

of Neighbourhoods