Trio of postponed rezoning applications approved by Kelowna City Council

A trio of rezoning applications that were rescheduled in late August were given more consideration by Kelowna council on Monday.

The three applications are for a 130-unit apartment building at 1459 Gordon Drive, a townhouse project at 870 Mayfair Road and a two-lot subdivision at 4519 Horak Road.

Consideration for the Gordon Drive and Mayfair Road applications was rescheduled due the wildfire situation in August.

The proposal on Mayfair Road was delayed due to public notice signage not going up on time.

During the Monday meeting, the projects on Gordon Drive and Mayfair Road were given first, second and third readings. Next steps will see the rezonings adopted and the developers apply for development permits.

As for the Horak Road application, Coun. Ron Cannan wanted the proposal for the two-lot subdivision and future duplex sent to a public hearing.

“My concern is (...) the potential fact of a single family home that all of a sudden can become an eight-plex in a single-family neighbourhood and change the whole form and character of the neighbourhood,” said coun. Cannan.

The city is currently preparing a review of the RU4 - Duplex Housing zone, which is the zone the applicants for 4519 Horak Road are looking to have approved for the property.

“Staff have been trying to work through a RU4 review to bring back to council, it's been made more complex because of other infill housing projects we have on the go right now,” said Ryan Smith, director of the city’s planning department.

Staff also did not want to prepare a review or report because the province is preparing new infill housing legislation this fall, Smith said.

“What we do know is that the provincial government is likely to ask municipalities to update their bylaws to permit between three and four, possibly three to six units on most single family properties in urbanized areas,” Smith explained.

Councillors Luke Stack, Maxine DeHart and Rick Webber wondered why this application needed to go to public hearing.

Coun. Mohini Singh, who seconded the motion to send it to public hearing, said the public should be given a chance to voice their concerns. Coun. Canaan agreed that the public needed to be given a chance to address council.

The city only received two pieces of correspondence from the neighbourhood.

Ultimately, the rezoning proposal for Horak Road was not sent to a public hearing and the motion to give first, second and third readings was only opposed by coun. Cannan.