Ed Grifone, Dave Cullen, Justin Rubello from CTQ Consultants Ltd. in attendance on behalf of Landstar Development Corporation
Highlights of the presentation from the Planner include:
Subject Property
- Casa Loma Neighbourhood;
- Zoning A1 - Agricultural and within ALR below Campbell Road;
- Surrounding land uses, Agricultural/ALR, R1 and RU2, Waterfront, Westbank First Nations;
- Vacant agricultural property - previously active orchard;
- Approximately 7 ha. in size;
- Located within Development Permit areas;
Background/Application History
- February 2017 - 1.7 hectares excluded from the ALR and required future development of Campbell Road;
- March 2017 - OCP and Zoning Amendment Application to amend designation to Tourist Commercial with CDP and Commercial Water Use Zone;
- November 2019 - Council denied bylaw amendments and file was closed;
- September 2020 - New OCP and Zoning Application to amend designation to Core Centre Multiple Family, Rezone foreshore to Commercial Water Use and Apartment type use on upland portion which has since been revised;
Revised OCP and Zoning Proposal
- Upland portion to the West of Campbell Road to Low Density Multiple Family;
- Zoning Amendments:
- Rezone A1 to R3 Low Density Multiple Family Zone to allow family townhouse with 45-60 units;
- Site specific text amendment to allow access to marina and propose parking with rooftop greenhouse for marina and agricultural uses;
- Rezone foreshore from W1 to W3 Commercial Water Use to accommodate 242 slip marina, with site specific text amendments to restrict maximum dock length, restrict boat launch, retail and convenience operations;
- Potential subdivision along Campbell Road may require some consideration of parking in the upland R3 use;
- Further consideration of details for A1/W3 proposal would be addressed with consideration of Non-Farm Use application and ALC conditions;
- Applicant has prepared conceptual drawings of uplands portion with townhomes along with agricultural and marina layout on the area below Campbell Road;
- Preliminary proposal with other details to come during future subdivision and development permit review;
- Proposed land uses are conceptual and will require ALC approval;
- Applicant provided conceptual cross section to show how the conceptual parkade/greenhouse structures could work with the grade change below Campbell Road;
Technical Review
- Extensive history of technical reports prepared for this site;
- New reports include: Functional Servicing Report, Transportation Review, Engagement Summary Report and Draft agrologist Opinion;
Key Considerations
- Proposed subdivision along Campbell Road - splits marina from upland residential use;
- Future farm operations with additional uses - impacts to the A1 area? Mitigation strategies or recommendations for Council's consideration.
Questions on the presentation
- Has ALR released the land? Upper Area has already been excluded from the ALR; Middle agricultural area is within the ALR;
- Public feedback on Blackmun Bay - was it against all development or the specific development? Overall concerns included traffic impacts, scope and scale of project and marina and boat launch impacts on the water (quality and use). However, scale and type of use above Campbell Road has been reduced (residential only) with this application along with eliminating waterfront parks and boat launch;
- Public concern with secondary access for Casa Loma? Similar comments seen with any development in Casa Loma neighbourhood;
- Any issues flagged with new reports? Any known concerns largely have reduced impacts due to the reduced scale of the development, or similar concerns;
- Are restrictions in place to preserve Agricultural land with the old exclusion application? Council did make recommendations to the ALC but not all were implemented in the ALC's conditions which are still applicable regarding the dedication of Campbell Road;
- Could application be separated into townhomes and agricultural/marina? Yes however applicant notes that the proposal has been submitted as a package together;
Highlights of the applicants presentation:
- CTQ brought on after application was rejected previously;
- Downscaled previous application from over 700+ units to 199 units/150 units with the new application, then revised again to townhouse (45-60 units) strata/duplex development above Campbell Road;
- Conceptual drawings are illustrating 44 units (approx. 2500 sq. ft.);
- Proposal is now in line with neighbouring densities;
- Proposed zoning includes: R3 to permit what is already in the neighbouring area which includes strata townhomes; text amendment to the A1 zone strictly for parking and access to the marina for emergency and pedestrian access; W3 for marina to limit to moorage only;
- Road improvements will enhance Campbell Road;
- Agriculture portion of property to be used productively as vineyard which has been determined by agrologist as best use; current apricot orchard is failing and old with poor quality fruit; possibility of small winery on the land; greenhouses for farm production with parking structure below with 50% for agriculture and 50% for marina use;
- Greenhouses proposed at Campbell Road level with approximately 80 parking spaces below;
- Marina portion has received all necessary approvals by Provincial and Federal Government Agencies;
- Application will stay within footprint provided on excluded agricultural land above Campbell Road as a strata development with internal access roadway through it;
- Concerns have been downscaled considerably with 60 units compared to previous 700 units.
Questions on the presentation:
- If agricultural land is managed by a company owning other lands, could it increase parking? Goal is to create viable farm land, as viable farm land will remain in the ALR for a long time. The Agricultural area below Campbell Road has proposed uses within the A1 zone which are also already permitted by the ALC, with the exception of non-farm use such as parking and access to the marina. ALC reviews non-farm use applications case by case with site specific consideration to determine if the use is appropriately scaled to the particular site and the type of agricultural uses on the site; Don't believe they would want to see that entire property as a parking area;
- Could contracted management change what they are able to do on the Agricultural portion of property? ALC does not want to impact quality agricultural land and will balance this with operators who don't want to lose the opportunity of agriculture on quality agricultural land. ALC will determine what happens on an application by application basis;
- 242 boat slips - where are they going to park and use the road? There is no boat launch; Parking structure has 80 stalls; 80 boat slips for townhome development, the remainder leased to the public primarily Casa Loma area and secondly to other West Kelowna residents, with 5 slips allocated for emergency uses; Projected parking requirements are suitable for marina size;
- Is the townhouse complex viable without having parking stalls in agricultural area? Strategy proposed to accommodate townhouse development with agri-tourism and marina; Townhouse parking is not required on the Agricultural lands but parking in the townhouse area and under the greenhouses will help the marina component work well;
- How was it determined that the orchard is not productive - the trees are producing? Trees are aging and not producing quality fruit; Challenging land as the soil is not best for fruit trees; Making the land a viable by incorporating a vineyard with greenhouses.
Highlights of the discussion include:
- Application could be three separate projects, townhome doesn't need the agricultural or marina to exist;
- Townhome units to fit within the neighbourhood;
- 3 unique components - townhomes, marina and agricultural applications;
- Water and Okanagan Lake belong to residents of B.C. taking away that access and giving to a private developer;
- Concern with commercial development on the waterfront;
- Intriguing and nice use of the area;
- Increasing concern for lack of infrastructure for secondary access with other developments going on;
- Using underutilized valuable property in West Kelowna that can be made to more people is beneficial to all residents;
- Improvements to infrastructure already happening in the area;
- Upper section of property already removed from ALR this conceptual development proposal is a good fit for the neighbourhood;
- Vineyard will enhance our community and tourism;
- Demand for marina and boat slips;
- Issues with secondary access, inappropriate use of agricultural land, water run off issues;
- What will the public gain from this project - boat slips, winery not on wine trail;
- Overwhelming amount of development along Campbell Road;
- Too many vehicles at the front access of Campbell Road;
- Supportive of townhome development - good fit in community;
- Concern with building a parkade for marina on the agricultural land;
- Problem with development and having infrastructure in place but can't hold one development responsible for that issue;
- Change in application from what was seen before is what the area needs;
- Provides public more access to the water than what is currently available;
- A1 portion will be decided by ALC and their expertise;
- Community has a single source of power, one bridge, this community has only a single access;
- Nice proposal but infrastructure and access a proposal;
- 160 marina slips is adding very little to the community and take away from the people paddling or swimming;
- Technical clarification from Planner: A1 zone is tied to the marina rezoning;
- Marina is conditionally approved through the province subject to the pending zoning approval;
- Many boat owners are West Kelowna citizens and it is not an elitist way to access the lake;
- Residents, visitors can have more public access to the lake;
- Having more boats on the water, brings more public access to the lake;
- With a marina people will still be able to paddle and swim;
- Increase of marinas near the bridge;
- Technical clarification from planner: marina proposed to have raised access to allow paddling.