Downtown plan passes another hurdle by Wayne Moore - Story: 42749
Oct 28, 2008 / 5:00 am

"Kelowna's controversial downtown re-development plan is one step closer to reality.

City Council Monday gave second and third readings to the Comprehensive Development Zone(CD21 Zone), by a 6-3 margin.

Mayor Sharon Shepherd and Councillors Robert Hobson and Michele Rule voted against the proposal.

The three dissenters liked the overall concept, but had problems with some portions of the CD Zone, mainly the heritage component and the prospect of a hotel being constructed on the old Royal Trust site."

Full story on Castanet.net

There is no denying that the downtown core of our beautiful city is in need of a major overhaul.  You can already see from this article that there is division amongst the municipal government officials as to what makes the most sense!  In order for Kelowna to reach its full potential as a "major Canadian destination resort/city" it has to do something of this magnitude.  Bottom line here is there has to be sacrifices made, especially on the financial end of the equation.   The City of Kelowna will have to raise the capital to reinvent the downtown core's public areas and that means developers will have to pay higher DCC's (Development Cost Charges).  The developers paying these inflated DCC's are going to want some compensation...say hello to high density highrises.  Personally, I think this is a positive step in creating that vibrant and festive downtown that Kelowna has desired for so long.  The idea of updated and newly created green space is a huge bonus to residents and visitors alike!  I also think that there needs to be accountability to have the city and developers provide affordable housing as one of the main goals in the process.

I for one am sure looking forward to the final product!

Sincerely,

Jason Neumann

Kelowna Real Estate Blog