Townhouse project to be reviewed by Kelowna council

Kelowna City Council is set to review a rezoning for a townhouse project in the Capri area.

According to the staff report, the applicant is looking to rezone 925 Laurier Ave. from the RU4 – Duplex Housing to MF2 – Townhouses zone to develop a five unit townhouse.

Staff will be recommending support for the project because it conforms to the Official Community Plan (OCP) future land use designation for Core Area neighbourhoods.

The report says the OCP encourages diverse housing forms, in particular, ground–oriented housing like townhomes as gentle forms of “gentle densification.”

They also say additional height and density are encouraged near active transportation corridors, like Ethel Street.

Although the city is working to implement new housing legislation that encourages small-scale, multi-unit housing, they say this site and surrounding properties were pre-zoned to the MF1 – Infill Housing zone, which allows for a townhouse building form and density up to six units.

City staff say the applicant has said they wish to continue with the MF2 – Townhouse zone, however, because it was originally designed to meet that zone’s development regulations in order to achieve the three-bedroom proposal for each unit.

According to the application that was submitted in mid-November, the townhouse will be three storeys in height and each unit will have two parking stalls as well as a large outdoor rooftop patio.

“This property is the last remaining site on the block that requires a 3-metre road dedication at the rear of the property to facilitate the extension of the rear lane from Ethel Street to Bowes Street,” the staff report says.

“As a condition of the rezoning, the applicant is required to construct the portion of the lane on their property including Laurier Ave frontage (sidewalk, boulevard, curb and gutter) improvements”

Kelowna city council will consider the proposal during the Monday meeting, which starts at 1:30 pm.