Kelowna CD-21 Plan Tossed

Kelowna city council recently voted to reverse a decision to proceed with a development plan that could have resulted in 27 story towers in the downtown area.

You can read more below in the story from the Globe and Mail, as well as some very well thought out replies to the newstory.

The plan had already been approved by a previous council as well as the provincial ministry of transport, but new councillors often generate new decisions, especially when there is opposition as in the case of CD-21.

I found Mayor Sharon Shepherd’s reason for voting against the plan interesting: She thinks it would not move fast enough and is too complex as it now stands.

There is a lot of opposition in the Okanagan to various kinds of development, especially high rises that could block or alter “the view.” Well, I prefer a few high rises to the hundreds of homes or ugly little condo complexes that would have to be constructed to hold the same amount of people. High rises are a very good use of space, and well designed, well built structures actually add to the beauty of an area.

I hope that whatever goes forward with the downtown plans allows for taller structures than we now see.

Kelowna divided on scrapped downtown plans – The Globe and Mail

The City of Kelowna spent close to three years and hundreds of thousands of dollars coming up with a plan to transform the city’s unremarkable downtown core into a glittering metropolis with 27-storey towers.

But then the city council voted 6-3 to scrap the controversial plan, a decision that was panned by its supporters while opponents celebrated.