Image: Ecora Engineering
A render of what a proposed boutique hotel on the Naramata could look like.
A luxury hotel could soon be part of the hillside on the Naramata bench.
Poplar Grove Winery owner Tony Holler is proposing to build a hotel with about 20 units on a property adjacent to his winery, located at 436 Lower Bench Road.
About one-third of the proposed 1.5 acre lot, within Penticton city limits, is currently part of the agricultural land commission.
The plans would need to gain approval from the Agricultural Land Commission, before being approved through a rezoning process by the City of Penticton.
Holler said the section that is ALR land is a layer of bedrock, and has never been used for farming.
He also said he’s a “huge supporter” of the ALR, and added his family owns about 130 acres of farmland.
“I would be up in arms if they actually took agricultural land where you can grow things out of (the ALR),” Holler said.
“But this is a small property. You can’t take half an acre and make a farm out of it, especially on this property because it’s all bedrock.”
Holler presented the hotel plans on Tuesday for the first time, inviting neighbouring property owners to an open house to view the plans.
He said responses he heard to his plans were generally positive, but acknowledged several concerns he heard.
Cathy Rublee, who lives across the street from the site on Lower Bench Road, reached out to Castanet to share her reservations against the proposal.
She owns a 4.5 acre orchard and doesn’t think the proposed luxury building would mesh in a farming community.
“This does not look like a small boutique hotel, it’s four storeys. It says 20 units and these are obviously suites, not just rooms,” Rublee said.
“Also we need to use (Lower Bench Road) for farm equipment… There’s farming activity going on. This is not the right place for a hotel.”
Holler said he doesn’t believe the hotel would be big enough to change the area, and believes “the one thing missing in Penticton” is a luxury hotel like what he’s proposing.
“In the middle of town, it’s not the same experience, and I would suspect not the same client.”
If his rezoning proposal is approved, Holler would hope to have construction for the hotel begin in 2019 and have the property complete the following year.
The timeline would be similar to a massive pot facility Holler is also planning to build in the South Okanagan.
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