Osoyoos town council is considering an amendment to a zoning bylaw which would allow for a strata development, including eight duplex lots which would house 16 residences and one single-family dwelling lot, near the Osoyoos Golf Course. A public hearing took place on June 17. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

By Vanessa Broadbent

Osoyoos Times

Residents near a proposed duplex development at the top of the Dividend Ridge subdivision near the Osoyoos Golf Course voiced their concerns at a public hearing Monday afternoon.

A proposed zoning amendment will allow for a strata complex of eight duplex lots – 16 residences – and three single-family residences at the end of Sawgrass Drive. The current zoning already allows for single-family residential development.

Patti Connolly said the main reason for purchasing her home on Golf Course Drive was because it is “the only community that is planned, consistent, and for the most part, single-family housing.”

“We did not want to live in a hodgepodge unplanned community,” she said. “This proposal will change the character of the community significantly.”

Augusta Lane resident Gary Mitchell, who is currently building a home adjacent to the proposed subdivision, questioned if esthetic requirements on other homes in Dividend Ridge would apply to the subdivision as well.

“These are what protected everybody in this subdivision, these covenants on all these buildings, so that you know that you’re not living next to a tar paper shack,” he said.

• Read more: No questions for council members at town AGM

Director of planning and development Gina MacKay said that the development would be required to align with town standards.

In a letter, Cypress Hills Drive resident Mike Doerksen questioned the safety of rocks on the property.

“As a property owner with a house directly below this proposed subdivision, I’m extremely concerned about falling rocks and debris damaging my property or person,” he wrote.

“There’s a huge pile of loose rock piled at the edge of the property. I don’t oppose the smaller lots but want to ensure that any work is done in a safe and proper way.”

Thomas Martin, Olympic View Drive resident, shared concern that duplexes will lower nearby property values.

“I have a fear, a concern that this kind of development in adjacency to the existing houses, the single family on large lots, is going to depreciate the value of those properties.”

Dave Cullen, project engineer with CTQ Consultants said the duplexes would be “high-end.”

“We feel that these would probably end up being a higher dollar-per-square foot value than the single family homes because of the nature of the duplexes so we don’t feel that there would be any market change to the neighbourhood by adding these types of townhomes,” he said.

Council will consider giving the zoning amendment third reading at a future meeting.