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Kelowna  

Council bucks the rules

A proposed development in Kelowna's Mission will get a chance to appear before council again, ahead of the six-month reapplication window.

During a lengthy public hearing Sept. 19, council narrowly voted down the Green Square development on Mission Springs Road,

The development called for four buildings, three of six storeys and of five storeys. They would house 141 one, two and three-bedroom units.

Several variances were requested as part of the development, including height, parking and setbacks.

At a public hearing that dragged on to almost 3:30 a.m., council voted 5-4 against the development, with Councillors Hodge, DeHart, Gray, Sieben and Stack opposed.

In asking that the developer be able to come back with a new proposal before the six month waiting period, Mayor Colin Basran said there appeared to be an appetite among councillor to defer a vote a month ago and let the developer make some changes and come back.

He told council allowing the developer to come back sooner, rather than later, was a good way of finding middle ground.

"We all know this is not a piece of property that is on the outskirts of town, that we aren't sure is suitable for development. I think we all agree on council there will be development on this property, but we need to find an application that meets council's support," said Basran.

"It's for that reason that I think it's reasonable to at least allow them to bring it back without waiting the six month time period, because we all know we have a housing crisis in our community, and we know there will be development on this property at some time."

He cautioned though, that approving the motion did not mean the development would automatically go ahead.

"I want the public to know it still has to go through a first reading, and if it gets a first reading, it then goes to  public hearing, and there will again be an opportunity for the public give their input.

"This is not to allow an application to bypass a public hearing or public input stages."

Coun. Gail Given agreed with the request, saying it was never her intention to have the developer wait six months before representing a new idea for the property.

She said it was her intention for the developer have the opportunity to fix the challenges identified by council.

Coun. Luke Stack agreed, but said he saw more than a few 'tweaks' that needed to be made. Stack said issues such as parking, density and height needed to be addressed in order to get his support.

Council unanimously passed the request.

It's not known when the developer will be ready to refile the application.



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