232807
232830

Kelowna  

No to Diamond Mountain

City council was swayed by fear, not by science and not by reality.

That was the opinion of Renee Wasylyk, CEO of Troika Management Corp., after council shut down her Diamond Mountain development by a 5-2 margin.

The development, which would have included between 800 and 1,000 homes at full build-out, was proposed for the hillside directly south of the Glenmore landfill.

Following a lengthy set of presentations by both the city and the developer, council decided the risk to one of its prime assets was not one worth taking.

City staff argued complaints about noise from the landfill and compost facility, visual impacts, dust and odour could cost taxpayers millions if it were forced to look for a new place to dump city garbage, likely outside the city.

"The range of cost consequences and possible consequences to our ratepayers and citizens of the region is extremely high," said utility services manager Kevin Van Vleit.

"I believe they outweigh, by an order of magnitude, any benefit we may get from the residential homes of this site. Our sites operate without a problem now, and the reason they operate without a problem is the adjacent properties have compatible use."

He says they are agricultural, vacant or are being farmed.

Wasylyk countered science is on the side of Diamond Mountain.

"The science is clear. Diamond Mountain is safe. Diamond Mountain has no health issues. Diamond Mountain is the least affected area in the entire North Glenmore corridor. And, there is no scientific, or regulatory reason for Diamond Mountain to not move forward," said Wasylyk

"If we apply the science and the model to what's here, UBCO is affected in 64 of 74 nuisance scenarios. McKinley is 40, Wilden is 68, and the most affected by the landfill. The airport sits at 31 and Quail Ridge and Diamond Mountain at 36. We are the least affected."

Council was swayed by the risk to the city and its taxpayers. Van Vliet says nuisances may not be bad in 10 year, but as the city continues to outgrow forecasts, he doesn't know what those conditions will be like in 40 years.

He said shutting down the landfill would cost the city between $30 and $50 million, and trucking waste out of the city could cost taxpayers upwards of $3 billion over the life of the facility.

"Coun. Mohini Singh agreed the city needs more attainable housing, but added council still needs to do what's right for the city as a whole.

"I am worried about the impact on our landfill site. The landfill is an amenity that serves the entire region," she said.

Singh said she was leaning toward supporting the development, but said after everything she heard, she was voting against for the "greater good of the community."

With the larger development shot down, Wasylyk said her company with Plan B, 17 10-acre lots, which she said will make millionaires very happy.

"We have to move forward, and we have to move forward with what we're dealing with today, and it's way too risky to not know what is going to happen."

As for Monday's meeting, Wasylyk said the process was biased.

"They weren't asking me enough questions. Staff got almost two-and-a-half hours to answer questions. I had a half an hour.

"It was a very biased process, and that I would say is part of what I'm most disappointed about. There was not a lot of interest in listening. I would say Coun. Sieben and Coun. Gray were most inquisitive, but there was a very biased procedure that happened in there today."



More Kelowna News



231274