‘Land poor’ West Kelowna
Trevor Nichols - Jun 22, 2017 - Biz Releases

Image: Trevor Nichols
Mayor Doug Findlater gave a state of the city address June 22.

West Kelowna has a land problem.

The city doesn’t own enough of it, and that’s hampering efforts to build new recreation facilities, find a place to eventually put a new city hall, and more.

“Land is a big challenge,” Mayor Doug Findlater told members of the Greater Westside Board of Trade at a state of the city address today.

Speaking to the crowd at the Cove Lakeside Resort this afternoon, Findlater said the lack appropriate places to put new buildings in West Kelowna is causing problems.

He pointed to the new soccer dome the city would like to build. West Kelowna has support from a provincial soccer association to build the structure, but, since there isn’t really any place to put it, the project has become “a lot more complex.”

Then there’s the dream of an entire sports complex, or, the new city hall that will in all likelihood eventually be built—where would they go?

Findlater said to deal with the problem the city is looking at a land management plan that will include strategies for acquiring more land, but also selling land the city already has.

Nothing is even close to being decided, and more research will need to be done before anything moves forward, but Findlater twice raised the possibility that some city parks might end up getting sold.

He also raised the possibility—again, nothing has been decided—that properties where some city satellite offices currently sit could also be sold.

That would happen if the city goes ahead with plans to build a major new public works yard in an area near the gravel pit. That facility, Findlater said, would be able to house staff from those and other offices (including the increasingly crowded city hall) potentially freeing them up for sale.

Findlater pointed out that the lack of land and crowded office spaces are both functions of the rapid expansion West Kelowna has seen in recent years.

He pointed out that most every economic indicator in the city is going up, including its population, the number of business licenses issued, construction activity and housing starts.

There were also a record-breaking number of single family homebuilding permits issued in 2016, “and all signs point to an even better year in 2017.”

Meanwhile, the city’s demographics are changing, with the number of seniors and middle aged people growing significantly since 2011, and the number of younger people going down.

Good news in those numbers, Findlater said, was the fact that the city’s labour force did grow by two per cent, and there seems to be a slight “baby boom” happening in the city, with the number of very young children increasing slightly from 2011 to 2016.


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