Penticton public to ponder proposed apartment complex

Photo: Contributed

Rendering of potential Timmins Street apartments.

A proposed apartment development on tiny Timmins Street in Penticton will move forward to public consultation this month.

Penticton city council voted to see what the public has to say about the potential apartment-townhouse development with a total of more than 200 units.

The 6.6-acre lot is currently zoned industrial, but developers hope to change that.

To sweeten the deal, developers have offered to pitch in $110,000 towards traffic-calming improvements to Moosejaw Street, which runs parallel to Timmins Street. Neighbourhood residents have already expressed concerns that Moosejaw traffic will get out of control if density rises in the area.

Connecting Timmins Street to Highway 97, which is just northwest of the property near Canadian Tire and Okanagan College, is not an option, according to city staff who have consulted with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.

The staff report also indicates two dozen trees will need to be replaced should the development move forward, after an arborist deemed them either invasive or diseased. Those trees will be replaced, though details are not nailed down.

Coun. Frank Regehr expressed concern that this land would be taken out of zoned industrial land in the city.

"It's important for Penticton stability to develop jobs, with a capacity to pay decent wages [which] is dependent upon having such land," Regehr said.

The community will have their say on the plan on Oct. 19 at a public meeting.