Photo: Contributed

A notorious drug house on Nickel Road could soon be coming down to make way for a townhouse redevelopment.

The home, which police admitted they had attended numerous times, became front and centre last year after the owner, Surrey-based realtor Amit Chopra tried on numerous occasions to have the tenants evicted.

Neighbours protested in the street in front of the home at one point, saying they felt unsafe in thier own neighbourhood.

Then mayoral candidate David Habib eventually got involved, helping to remove those squatting inside the home. It has since been boarded up.

Now Chopra, who also owns the adjacent property wants to level those homes to make way for a 12-unit townhouse development.

An application seeking a development permit and to have the properties rezoned was forwarded to the city's planning department this week.

Plans call for two buildings, one fronting Nickel Road with five units and a second in back with seven more units. Parking would be contained within each of the units.

The three-storey buildings would feature one two-bedroom, seven three-bedroom and four four-bedroom units.

The landscape plan calls for the planting of 21 trees as well as decorative shrubs, ornamental grass plantings, perennials, and turf.

"The intention of this proposal is to create a townhouse development in an upcoming area of Kelowna which is very walkable, bikeable, and has access to nearby amenities," the development rationale states.

"This proposal is anticipated to provide missing-middle housing at a time where the local housing market has been identified as unaffordable and short of supply."

The proposal will be reviewed by several staff departments before landing on city council's desk.