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Penticton  

City hall investigated

The Office of the Ombudsperson in B.C. has opened an investigation on the City of Penticton over a controversial apartment complex approved by council last fall.

The developments at 175 Kinney Avenue, two six-storey apartment buildings with a combined 119 units, drew a large crowd of about 125 people at a Nov. 1 public hearing last year, when the development came to a public hearing.

At issue, according to complainant Bob Sumner, is a July public hearing, in which a bylaw amendment was brought forth to allow buildings to move up to six storeys, up from four, and up to 125 units per hectare, up from 115.

The change followed a similar one to the BC Building Code in 2009, which would allow wood-frame buildings up to six storeys.

A July 4 report to council from planning manager Blake Laven says the change was spurred by “several different developers looking to construct six-storey wood-frame apartment buildings in Penticton.”

When that bylaw went to a public hearing, it saw no opposition, but Sumner says had the public known that 175 Kinney was one of those properties affected, opposition would have come forward.

“We weren’t aware that the zoning was going to be amended,” Sumner said. “We hadn’t recognized the public noticed because it hadn’t referred to the address in the public notice.”

In that sense, Sumner says there wasn’t proper notification in the public hearing on July 18, which he believes would have directly impacted 175 Kinney, and thereby other residents in the area.

“Hopefully we’ll put the brakes on (the development) a little bit until the ombudsperson sorts this out,” Sumner said, though he acknowledges that the B.C. ombudsperson lacks teeth. “All it can do is make a statement saying that, ‘Well, this was right,’ or, ‘This was wrong,’ and I guess from there we would have to take whatever steps we felt necessary.”

That could include taking the issue to court if the city doesn’t revisit the issue, but Sumner said he doubted he would take it to that level.

Sumner, who did attend the Nov. 1 meeting, said his concerns aligned largely with many of those at the meeting, including the issue of traffic next to a school and potentially declining property values.

The Office of the Ombudsperson doesn’t comment on investigations, but city boss Peter Weeber said in a statement that city hall is working with the ombudsperson on the matter.

“Notification for OCP and zoning amendment applications are completed in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Act and Penticton’s development procedures and delegation bylaw,” Weeber said.

“The city is working with the ombudsperson on this matter and we will await their response once we have had an opportunity to respond.”

B.C.'s ombudsperson opens over 2,000 investigations a year.



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