By Madeline Baker, Times-Chronicle
A proposed multi-family housing project for the eastern end of 89th Street has moved one step closer to becoming a reality with Osoyoos town council’s vote to give the proposal its third reading at their March 8 meeting.
The project, which calls for a 40-unit multi-family building and a five-unit townhouse complex to be built at 6828 89th Street, will first need council to change the parcel’s land use designation before they can apply for a building permit.
The proposed building would consist primarily of one- and two-bedroom dwellings, with four units always priced below the market’s current rental rates to provide attainable housing. Designated parking would be provided for residents, including two accessible parking spots.
All 40 units would also be required to meet a 10-year minimum of rental availability, as rental dwellings have been identified by the town as one of Osoyoos’s larger housing gaps.
Osoyoos’s Official Community Plan (OCP) review in 2020 first raised concerns about the town’s lack of multi-family rentals when it found a strong link between that specific shortage and the hiring struggles faced by local business owners.
A housing needs study done as part of the OCP review determined that the town cannot house enough new workers to meet the staffing needs of a growing local economy, and the situation has gotten worse in the time since that study was completed, according to Gina MacKay, Osoyoos’s Director of Planning and Development.
Two local businesses have already voiced their support for the project in letters to the town. Sara van der Hoeven, HR Manager at Watermark Resort and employer of “100 plus seasonal and full-time year-round staff”, further added her support for “any future proposed developments that would see rental housing coming to the community.”
“Developments such as these are key to […] support year-round housing and retain staff in the community,” van der Hoeven wrote. “The housing market is exhibiting that people want to move to Osoyoos for so many various reasons, we need to support as much rental development as possible.”
Writing on behalf of Destination Osoyoos, Executive Director Kelley Glazer also voiced blanket support of all current and future housing developments that “provide much needed rental properties to local workers [who] support the economic, physical, social, and cultural well-being of Osoyoos.”
MacKay calls the proposed building project “a good start to help address the housing shortage in the community” while acknowledging that it is “only one project, and cannot possibly be expected to address all housing concerns.”
Two readings of the proposal had already been done prior to March 8, along with a previous public meeting on February 22, but the second reading was rescinded after council members requested several changes to the housing project’s initial plans.
Neither the February nor March public readings saw any major concerns raised by residents in the vicinity of 89th Street. Now that the third reading has received a positive vote, the town’s zoning request and building project will be eligible for their own council vote at the next regular meeting.
