Doctors office approved

Photo: City of Penticton

Rendering of completed project

After sending it back to the drawing board last month, Penticton city council approved a doctor's office following a second public hearing Tuesday.

Ear, nose, throat specialist Dr. Ali Moshaver is looking to build a 304 square metre, two-storey medical building at the corner of Leir Street and Carmi Avenue to expand his practice and attract other physicians to the city.

Council declined the first proposal in June due to the impact on traffic and parking in the residential neighbourhood.

Moshaver was back in front of council Tuesday with a new plan that increased parking stalls from four to seven and shifted the building closer to Leir Street.

“We think this new plan addresses all these concerns,” he said “This is the best we can do.”

The doctor proceeded to lecture council about the shortage of doctors in Penticton, stating he has 15,000 active patients in his current practice, each waiting an average of six months to see him.

“I want the council to think a little bit beyond the zoning changes etcetera. I want you to think, who is this really going to benefit,” he said. “Overall this will help thousands of patients, not one or two that you are going to hear complaints from.”

The office will house two doctors and two support staff, with the possibility of adding more physicians down the road.

Council heard separate complaints from Larry and Vicki Morgan, who live directly beside the proposed office, who continued to oppose the project due to its size. They argued that because the development needed a variance on the buffer between the commercial building and residential lot, it was too big of a building for the lot.

Larry Morgan maintained that they are not opposed to development in the now empty lot, “it’s about the building, it’s about this particular development.”

The proposal eventually passed, with council placing a covenant on the property requiring a concrete base to the fence to protect the neighbour's garage.