Access to be left for public walkway along lakeshore

OSOYOOS TIMES (June 14, 2006)

By Julie TurnerrnOsoyoos Times

Osoyoos Shoreline Development Ltd., the team working on a project for the old packinghouse site adjacent to Gyro Park, has unveiled its revised plan to develop a beach-side hotel and condominium resort.
Attendance was steady at an open house at the Sonora Community Centre last Thursday, and included members of Council and Assistant Town Planner Steve Shannon. Team members at the open house included Vancouver Development Manager Glen Harris, Darwin Construction President David Webbe and consultant Jim Szabo, who are also partners in the project.
Harris said the open house was an opportunity for the development team to say to community members that their opinions matter to us.
It has been nearly a year since the developer came forward with its first plan for the site, which included a 12-storey tower. Public reaction to that was overwhelmingly negative, and Harris said Thursday the team heard the message. It has spent nearly a year revising the plans presented last week for this $54-million project.
The first draft of the new plan went to Development Services in February, and after a recent meeting with the Advisory Design Panel, more modifications were requested, including changes to the roofline and the colour scheme. Issues have also been raised about the setbacks of the townhouses to the shoreline, so it is likely that more adjustments will be made to the plan before it is presented to Council later this month.
The plan includes a three- and four-storey, 153-suite beachside condo resort, including five townhouse buildings (consisting of 30 suites) to be situated in front of SuperValu, a 123-unit Boutique Hotel, restaurant, lounge, swimming pool, convention centre for 200 delegates, retail space and a health club/spa. Due to the slope of the land, the hotel will be three storeys at Main Street and four storeys facing the lake, and the townhouses will be two storeys from Main Street and three storeys facing the lake. Two-hundred-and-eleven parking stalls will be supplied.
Mike Duggan, main owner of Boutique Hotels of B.C., will manage the hotel, and the units will all be privately owned and managed by a rental pool. The townhouses will be studio, one-bedroom, one-bedroom plus den, and two-bedroom. Prices will start in the low $200,000s, and sales will start between late August and mid-September.
Harris believes the development will be an enhancement to the community. He wants to work with the planning department and local community groups to ensure that we get it done right. The revised plan also includes the enhancement of the adjoining beachfront park through the development of a scenic public walkway system connecting existing north and south pathways. Harris confirmed his development would allow for public access to the park, the beach and the lake.
I know there are concerns about public park access and I have no problem telling people that we have no intention of doing anything but enhancing the park experience. As a development team, we're proud of what we've put together, but this is their town and their legacy. This is a great place to call home and we intend to keep it that way, said Harris.
Parks and Trails Committee member Carol Boan attended the open house Thursday and was generally positive in her comments. Her major concerns are to ensure the public walkway. I'm encouraged by the developer's apparent willingness to listen to and to work with the townspeople to fine-tune their proposal so that it fills the wants and needs of both the purchasers and the community, she said.
Osoyoos Now President Michael Ryan said he applauds the well-organized open house on the packinghouse site proposal, and added Osoyoos Now directors and the developer are attempting to schedule a meeting to provide an opportunity to exchange further ideas about the proposal. Other than the reduction in height of the former 12-storey tower and the addition of a welcome meandering public walkway along the property, the plan is essentially the same as before. A number of concerns remain including building mass and the resulting lack of view corridors through the development, and the degree and quality of public access. Council and residents must resist the inclination to quickly pursue the proposal in order to 'finally do something with the packinghouse property.'
If the project is approved, Harris said he hopes to be under construction by October, with completion expected by August 2008. It is expected to go to first reading June 19, with a public hearing to take place in July.