Lack of rental housing and cycle paths stick out among otherwise positive Kelowna trends report

A recent report outlining development trends in Kelowna is mostly positive, but for a few notable exceptions.

The Official Community Plan Indicators Report, which City Planner Graham March presented to council last month, is a “balance sheet on how we are performing” as a city.

The report looks at 25 different indicators of progress, based on goals set out in the city’s Official Community Plan.

Kelowna’s OCP is the guiding document that is supposed to inform council’s development and planning decisions.

Adopted in 2011, after extensive public consultation, it lays out a 20-year plan for the city’s growth and development that ideally reflects the will of Kelowna residents.

Overall, March said progress looks good, with the city “trending positively” on 15 of the 25 indicators. That is the same number of indicators performing positively as last year.

Of the remaining 10 indicators, four show “minimal” difference in performance compared to last year, three can’t be measured because there’s not enough data, and three are trending “in the wrong direction.”

March highlighted some upward trends within the data, including the proportion of multi-family housing, and the number of businesses with employees in the city.

In 2011, the proportion of new multi-family houses compared to single unit dwellings was skewed strongly towards single units, with 79 per cent single-units housing in the city, compared to 21 per cent multi-family units.

In 2015, that ratio was 60 per cent to 40 per cent in favour of multi-family units.

Also, the number of businesses with employees has continued to climb in Kelowna. In 2011, there were 7,454 business employing people in Kelowna, compared to 8,219 in 2015.

However, the city isn’t making positive progress on all its goals.

Unsurprisingly, the city is falling far short of its goal of a 3 to 5 per cent vacancy rate. According to the report, Kelowna’s vacancy rate has been falling since 2012, when it sat at 4 per cent. Today, it sits at around 0.7 per cent.

The city is also doesn't have an appropriate supply of land for single detached housing units, with only about half of the OCP goal currently available.

Finally, the report indicates there’s not nearly enough pedestrian and cycle paths in Kelowna. The ratio of paths to roads was hovering around 2.5:1 in 2013, while in 2015 it dropped to just above 0.5:1.

For more information, and to see a breakdown of all the trends, check out the report online.