A proposal went before City Council on Monday to rezone an area in Kettle Valley to allow for the construction of more housing in the area.
The site was originally designated for public school use in 1996 before the city and developer struck a deal to provide an interim soccer field on the site in 1998. The property, located at 410 Providence Ave., borders Quilchena Park.
Over the last 20 years, there has been the odd discussion about a middle school being constructed on the site, but School District 23 recently confirmed they no longer have interest in building a school on the land.
With that in mind, developers are proposing to rezone the area to allow construction of residential housing. The proposed development would include single-family dwellings, multi-unit residences and future city parkland, as well as replacing the current soccer field with a regulation size pitch.
Along with the 2.9 acres of devoted parkland, a multi-use roadway for bikes and pedestrians that connecting Quilchena Park with Main Street Park would also be built.
City policy doesn’t support the disposition of school district lands, but since the school district never acquired the property and no public funds were utilized, developers believe the best use for the land is to add more housing options in Kettle Valley.
Mayor Colin Basran seemed to agree, mentioning that more housing in Kelowna is a good thing, but Coun. Brad Sieben wasn’t in favour of turning school land into a residential area and said he won’t be supporting the proposal.
Despite Coun. Sieben’s opposition, the rest of Council was in favour of at least moving the idea forward and a public hearing was set for January 10th, 2016.
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