It's been nearly a year since a rezoning application was submitted for the building that houses two Kelowna radio stations.
In May 2023, an application was submitted to change 3805 Lakeshore Rd. from utilities and small lot rural residential to a village centre to accommodate a six-storey mixed-use building.
Kelowna City Council has yet to review the rezoning however, the applicant has now submitted new applications for the property.
The first is a development variance permit to reduce the minimum ratio between tree sizes to allow from 0% large trees, which is down significantly from the city’s requirement of 50%large trees.
A variance is also being requested to reduce the minimum building setback for the front yard and flanking side yard from the required three metres to a proposed zero metres for portions of the building on both frontages.
A site-specific text amendment is also being sought to allow for five car-share vehicles to be located within the proposed enclosed parkade, which could reduce the on-site parking requirements by 22 stalls.
The city allows off-street parking reductions if developers provide rental units or car share stalls.
“Within the Core Area, Urban Centres, University South Village Centre, and Glenmore Village Centre, the total minimum off-street vehicle parking requirements for any residential and any commercial use can be reduced by five parking spaces per car share vehicle,” the bylaw says.
According to the application, Jim Pattison Developments reached out to other car share providers in Kelowna to see if there was an interest in supplying vehicles to the project on Lakeshore Road, however, they reportedly all declined.
As a result, Jim Pattinson Lease, which is a fleet leasing company based in Kelowna and branch of the Jim Pattison Group, will be providing the five car share vehicles for this project.
However, there are plans to expand this new business venture to serve other projects in Kelowna.
“Jim Pattison Lease views this Kelowna Carshare opportunity as a springboard to a much broader opportunity to develop and grow an entirely new business line for their company,” the application says.
“Jim Pattison Developments intends to reconsider Carshare providers for all future multi-family residential projects, for which we have a deep development pipeline, and to look to Jim Pattison Lease as our Carshare provider.”
This pair of new applications for the redevelopment of 3805 Lakeshore Rd. were both accepted at Kelowna city hall on Mar. 21 and were circulated around the planning department on April 10.
A full report for this redevelopment proposal has yet to be presented to city council.
