More than a dozen West Kelowna residents spoke out against a large housing development during a public hearing on Monday night.
Surrey-based developer Landvision Group has proposed a multi-building apartment complex on a 12.4-acre lot on Auburn Road.
The proposal includes five, four-storey buildings totalling 401 units that, if approved, will be built out over the next 10-12 years.
“It’s just not a suitable place to have that size of a development,” West Kelowna resident Sheryl Rudd said ahead of Monday’s meeting.
“Without exception, people are very upset about this. It’s not just because they live here and they don’t want the traffic, it is a very big concern for the children.”
Residents of Terravitta Condos, located next to the site, have safety concerns and are also worried about environmental and traffic impacts if the development goes ahead.
A committee, featuring around a dozen area residents, has formed against the development.
“We have been aware of these concerns for quite some time and so have staff and council,” said land development consultant Rachael Sansom. “We certainly want to convey that we respect their opinions and really want to work together to find solutions.”
Residents say traffic in the area is already congested, with Constable Neil Bruce Middle School across the road from the subject property and a nearby industrial park.
Rudd added that during the past five years, there have been several accidents and near misses on Daimler Drive between Highway 97 and Auburn Road.
“There have been around 60 accidents that police have come to on that road in the last few years, not to mention the ones that police didn’t attend,” Rudd said.
“We have cement trucks, dump trucks all day long, going past the school from the industrial park. We’ve got people coming down from Shannon Lake and both sides of Auburn have residential, so it is extremely congested.”
A city traffic report found that intersections in the area are near failing.
The report outlined several improvements, including dual left-turn lanes from Daimler Drive onto Highway 97, restricting left turns from Old Okanagan Highway and a roundabout at Auburn and Daimler Drive.
“The preliminary costs that were noted in the report and at council meetings is $1.7 million. We expect that to probably go up because everything is going up,” said Sansom.
“We have agreed to a cost-share with the city, and we are still negotiating that. Last night, we said we would take on 55 per cent of that. There are still conversations as we aren’t expecting the taxpayer to bear the cost, but there is an existing issue there, but we want to be a part of the solution.”
The City of West Kelowna declined our request for an interview on Tuesday, instead sending a statement to Global News.
“We thank everyone who participated and provided feedback during the Dec. 11 public hearing, giving council the important opportunity to hear residents’ concerns,” read the West Kelowna statement.
“Legislation does not permit further feedback or comment after the close of the hearing. However, all received input will help inform future deliberations and staff will now focus on bringing the proposal back to a future meeting for consideration as soon as possible. No date has yet been set.”
No formal decisions were made during Monday’s public hearing.
According to the developer, there are still a couple of years of permitting that need to happen before anyone is able to break ground.
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