12-Storey waterfront development may come to Osoyoos' Main Street
A new development proposed for the old packing house site at the foot of Osoyoos' Main Street will change the face of the downtown waterfront.
The old packing house property has remained vacant for several years, waiting for future development.
A site plan was revealed at the May 16 council meeting, indicating that part of the development will include a 12-storey building located at the intersection of Main Street and Park Place.
At the meeting, council gave a first reading to a zoning amendment bylaw which would see the land use designation change from Waterfront Development (WD) to Comprehensive Development Osoyoos Lake Resort (CD3).
The CD3 zone allows for a mixed-use development of tourist commercial, retail and resort residential along the nine parcels that comprise the subject property, a total of 4.39 acres.
All but the east adjoining land, Osoyoos Lake/Community Beach designated as Parks and Recreation, are zoned as Downtown Commercial.
The owner/applicant of the property is listed as a B.C. Ltd. number.
The applicant wishes to develop the properties for use as a hotel and convention facility, including resort residential, retail commercial, restaurant and spa.
A technical report from the Development Services Department to Mayor and Council read, in part:rnThe Town's primary responsibility is to ensure that this development does not negatively impact on the use and enjoyment of adjacent public parkland.
In drafting this zoning amendment bylaw, careful consideration was given to the regulations concerning height and parking.
The proposed maximum height of 48 metres for a single tower will provide view corridors throughout the balance of the development.
In reviewing the parking regulations, it is assumed that a large portion of the users of the restaurant and licensed establishment will be guests in the hotel and therefore these uses will not require as many parking stalls as normally regulated in the Zoning Bylaw.
The provision for employee parking is to ensure that the public can still access the adjacent central business area and to avoid the necessity of installing parking meters for the area.
The rezoning must be subject to the property owner providing the Town with an access agreement over that portion of private property that extends to the foreshore. This will ensure public access to the park and Osoyoos Lake.
The applicant will also be responsible for a public walkway extending from the bridge, north to connect with the public walkway adjacent to White Sands.rnDue to the scope of this development and its potential impact on the downtown waterfront, Mayor John Slater announced a public hearing has been set for Thursday June 9 at 7 p.m. The public hearing will take place in the gymnasium of the Sonora Community Centre.
Councillors Bud Fraser and Dick Flintoft agreed it will be good to see some development finally happen on the site.
We're seeing a design for this development, but I hope when it goes to a public hearing , the developer will have some other information available, such as jobs created, financial impact, etc., said Councillor Tom Shields.
Shields also asked if there were plans for an open house as well as the public hearing, but Slater said it was not a requirement.
I hope that they would, Shields said.
Someone had bantered around a figure of somewhere between $60-70 million, so if that's the case, I hope they'll get some more information out to the public ahead of time so it's not the case of a single two to three hour meeting and everyone will have to make up their minds.rnThis is a very important piece of history to Osoyoos and it's in such an important location for the downtown merchants, Slater added.
That's also why we want to have this public hearing at the Sonora Community Centre, so we have enough room for people who want to come.
