Culinary College will be for Humanity
A 'Culinary College for Humanity' is proposed by the owner of Summerhill Pyramid Winery on Chute Lake Road.
The six-storey building would include large kitchens and classrooms, wine tasting rooms, 150 bedrooms for staff and faculty, and a parkade.
Since the proposal is within the boundaries of the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve, approval from the Agricultural Land Commission will be necessary before it can proceed.
At Monday’s City of Kelowna council meeting, municipal planners will recommend councillors endorse Summerhill's plans for the culinary college.
“The proposal has the potential to generate alternative agricultural value to the city and the region in providing for a rare opportunity for value-added agricultural amenities," city planners write in a report to council.
But the Ministry of Agriculture has raised concerns with the development proposal.
“The size and scope of the proposed development and its associated conference centre, sleeping units, atrium/ gallery, ponds and spa, parking and administrative areas appear disproportionate to the primary agricultural activity taking place on this ALR parcel,” ministry agrologist Christina Forbes writes in a letter to the city.
Stephen Cipes, Summerhill’s founder and owner, says Kelowna is an ideal place for a college focused on food.
“It is the breadbasket of B.C.’s Interior, with local produce, meats, fruits, wine, and dairy, and with fresh fish from inland lakes and farms from the nearby coast,” Cipes says.
“The entire world will be inspired,” Cipes says. “A headquarters for world food production education with a holistic immersive concept to entice food production entrepreneurs, activists, and executives from around the world.”
As plans call for the college’s construction on top of existing buildings, Cipes says it “will not displace a single square foot of arable land.”