Kelowna heritage area residents raise concerns over transit-oriented housing plan - BERITAJA

With its practice homes, mature trees and wide boulevards, the Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area is considered an important portion of Kelowna’s history.

“This was the first subdivision successful Kelowna successful 1904 and it’s a cherished area,” said Peter Chataway, an area resident.

But concerns are increasing that changes to the city’s Official Community Plan (OCP) jeopardize that.

“They changed the practice guidelines to accommodate the TOA, truthful they’ve weakened the guidelines,” said Susan Ames, area resident and president of the Friends and Residents of Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area Society.

TOA stands for Transit Oriented Area, provincial authorities implemented by the B.C. authorities successful 2024 to promote higher-density lodging adjacent awesome transit hubs.

In this case, the nickname affects an area wrong 400 metres of Kelowna General Hospital, which includes the confederate information of the practice conservation area

Residents opposing the changes opportunity the authorities opens the doorway to onshore assemblies and six-storey flat buildings that are retired of characteristic pinch the area.

“Completely not compatible pinch the neighbourhood aliases the heritage,” Chataway said.

On Thursday, concerned residents launched a nationalist consciousness run calling connected the metropolis to region the TOA nickname from the practice area and reconstruct single-family zoning.

“We want the practice guidelines reversed backmost to what they were before,” Ames said.

But the metropolis said it can’t region the designation, fixed it’s a portion of provincial legislation.

“The metropolis is incapable to see the removal,” said Ryan Smith, divisional head of readying improvement and ambiance action astatine the City of Kelowna.

“The nickname arsenic a Transit Oriented Area is simply a provincial 1 and truthful the provincial authorities group that successful authorities and they haven’t implied that they would region it.”

But Smith did adhd that the city updated its practice conservation area improvement guidelines pursuing the preamble of the caller legislation.

“So that caller building successful these areas would compliment the existing practice characteristic of the area. Because its specified a change, it’s not going to beryllium cleanable and I don’t deliberation anybody claims its going to beryllium cleanable but to declare that we person the authority to region the TOA and we are not, is not true.”

Heritage advocates reason the metropolis still has authority to protect the area, citing a missive it received from the lodging minister.

In it, Christine Boyle states, successful part, “Under the TOA legislative framework, municipalities clasp the expertise to protect practice buildings and make decisions about really sites pinch practice features are developed.”

The missive goes connected to say, “The TOA nickname does not override the existing improvement guidelines for the Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area.”

“They don’t want to look to perceive to us,” Ames said. “We don’t cognize what other to do. So now we’re trying to raise organization efforts to get group involved.”

The organization efforts see putting up signage successful the area and an online petition.

Chataway said while he supports further lodging density successful Kelowna, it can’t travel astatine the disbursal of historical neighbourhoods.

“We work together pinch them, 100 per cent,” Chataway said. “Just do it successful a sensible measurement that protects existing assets specified arsenic heritage.”