Airport rules kill towers

Photo: City of Penticton

Federal aviation regulations appear to have fully snuffed out a three-tower development downtown Penticton.

City council first entered an agreement with developers in Dec. 2009, for the lot at 450 Martin Street. The developer proposed to build three towers more than 20 storeys high that would have included a mix of hotel, office and residential suites with a grocery store in the ground lobby.

Dubbed “Penticton Place,” the development needed bylaw amendments for height and density. In exchange, the developer promised several hundred-thousand dollars in benefits to the city in the form of affordable housing, public art and more.

But shortly after the agreement was signed, it was discovered the height of the project was way over federal regulations limiting the height of buildings on the flight path in and out of Penticton airport.

“The PDA [agreement] requires the construction of a 23 storey building, while the airport regulations only permit 10 storey,” a city staff going before council on Tuesday states.

Initially, Transport Canada said it would review the regulations. In 2011, council voted to extend the contracted start date of the project from Dec. 2014 to Dec. 2017 to allow for the review.

But since then, little review has taken place.

“Staff have been unofficially notified that the review is a low priority for the agency and that in all likelihood, if a full review were conducted, the regulations would most likely become stricter, not more lenient,” the staff report reads.

The report recommends council let its agreement with the developer lapse, and start over on a new project that will conform with the airport regulations. $150,000 the city received from the builder and already spent on a downtown plan may have to be repaid.

Council will discuss the matter on Tuesday.