The Westcorp hotel....

[entertained]

is the fire department equipped to fight a fire on the 30th floor...what's that going to cost the taxpayers for all new equipment. Maybe westcorp should flip the bill...or better yet the city counselors that voted yes. The next mayor is going to have one heck of a mess to clean up...I sure hope it's not him again. I know it's hard to say no to your buds but you might have to one day...for the sake of Kelowna.

[fz6adventure]

I can only assume that your lack of participation in past public hearings in virtually any and all B.C. municipalities is what is fuelling the irrational conspiracy theories.

People, self included, will only continue to participate in public hearings until they come to the conclusion that the participation in these is worthwhile. Once they learn that the hearings are a sham, they stop wasting their efforts and quit participating. Different from apathy, where they just don't care, meekly accepting accept the injustice on the basis their voices are not heard, they find different avenues of participation. Avenues that are not controlled by the local government such as social media, letters to editors, letters to higher levels of government, the OIPC, Ombudsman etc.

The legal requirement for public hearings are in place as a check valve; as a last resort to ensure that local government makes every effort to listen to constituents concerns and then, and only then, with full consideration to the desires of a broad cross section of the citizens, cast their very powerful vote on issues of local importance. Plugging public hearings with specific interest groups to drown out opposing viewpoints, carrying hearings well past the times when there is a reasonable expectation all those with a voice can be in attendance, is not the foundation for fair governance. Allowed to continue, the local government risks the perception, real or otherwise, that they are corrupt. This is exactly what has happened in Kelowna over the past 3 plus years. The current Kelowna City Council has lost the trust of a large segment of the populous in Kelowna.

In the case of the Westcorp matter, council had an opportunity to do it right and turn the corner to respectability ..... but they dropped the ball. Tough for them because it is too close to the coming civic election in a matter of months for the public to forget. Different from a candidate starting fresh to gain the support of enough citizens for enough votes to be elected, for many of those on current council hoping to continue representing the city, they now have an uphill battle at best to try to convince citizens that they will represent them openly, honestly and fairly. The only exception to this is Councillor Hodge.

Human nature is that we start out trusting, until demonstrated that trust is not deserved. It is going to be a lot easier for the next fresh fresh candidates for council ....... especially in the mayors chair.

[Omnitheo]

Turns out most Kelowna residents support this structure.

The John Zegers and Andy Thompson’s are the minority now. As Kelowna grows, more and more people want to see it grown up. A beautiful building downtown is far more desirable than stripping Knox, Dilworth and Black Mountains and continuing the urban sprawl.

You’ve voiced your opinion, but it is merely one of a hundred thousand, and it may be a loud opinion, but it is a minority one.

[fz6adventure]

Turns out most Kelowna residents support this structure.

Not quite sure how you have arrived at that conclusion????? I guess the experts in the Planning Department are a minority - what does that say about the rest of development in Kelowna?

[fz6adventure]

What brand will this hotel be. Does anyone think it will be built soon. Been a long wait. I miss the willow burgers .
Kelowna has changed so much. To quote Ian Tyson . Some call it progress.

I doubt it will get built in the current real estate cycle - they are chasing the market which is due for a correction. Maybe it will start and end up looking like the Lucaya or Conservatory. Looking forward, I think a good name would be the BASRAN tower.

[Scrobins94]

I'm surprised this wasn't on the front page of Castanet last night when I checked.

[Anonymous123]

I'm surprised this wasn't on the front page of Castanet last night when I checked.

Posted at 1:00 AM Feb. 21 2018

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/219415/33-storey-hotel-a-go

[LANDM]

*removed*

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Turns out most Kelowna residents support this structure.

The John Zegers and Andy Thompson’s are the minority now. As Kelowna grows, more and more people want to see it grown up. A beautiful building downtown is far more desirable than stripping Knox, Dilworth and Black Mountains and continuing the urban sprawl.

You’ve voiced your opinion, but it is merely one of a hundred thousand, and it may be a loud opinion, but it is a minority one.

They have never built hotels in this valley on the mountainsides. And there are other places a convention center could have been built.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

At the council meeting , there was photo on the South wall of the proposed view from the 17th floor restaurant that is in the proposed hotel build. This photo was approximately 2 to 3 meters long.
Is this a new thing? Will all future applicants of buildings be able to post advertising pictures on the walls of City Hall ?
Is this the way it is always done, i.e. normal process ?
Or is this preferential treatment of an applicant?
I will bet it was not put up by the planning department.

[LANDM]

is the fire department equipped to fight a fire on the 30th floor...what's that going to cost the taxpayers for all new equipment. Maybe westcorp should flip the bill...or better yet the city counselors that voted yes. The next mayor is going to have one heck of a mess to clean up...I sure hope it's not him again. I know it's hard to say no to your buds but you might have to one day...for the sake of Kelowna.

*removed* The professionals in the fire department have already commented.

*removed*

[fz6adventure]

*removed*

[Omnitheo]

Turns out most Kelowna residents support this structure.

The John Zegers and Andy Thompson’s are the minority now. As Kelowna grows, more and more people want to see it grown up. A beautiful building downtown is far more desirable than stripping Knox, Dilworth and Black Mountains and continuing the urban sprawl.

You’ve voiced your opinion, but it is merely one of a hundred thousand, and it may be a loud opinion, but it is a minority one.

They have never built hotels in this valley on the mountainsides. And there are other places a convention center could have been built.

I can think of a few actually. One near quail ridge, and another on the west side. But I’m not talking about hotels specifically. This tower is not just a hotel. I’m talking about all development

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Well I thought this thread was about the Westcorp application.
Like I said before council , there are other locations nearby that were better suited to a building of that height.
It was about a developer who pitched an 18 or 19 story building in the first application, and now has come back at 33.
This after being granted approval for 26 in 2014, then choosing not to follow through with the plan.
Nothing is built yet, let's see what happens.

[Anonymous123]

Here's a letter to the editor posted on Castanet:

Town turned into a stripmall
Contributed - Feb 22, 2018 / 6:00 am | Story: 219259
The citizens of Peachland were stunned, as city council defied them by effectively rescinding the city’s Official Community Plan (OCP) to allow development that will set the stage for turning our pristine downtown into a massive strip-mall.

Statutory Public Hearings no longer serve as an avenue for public input, when city councillors are just sitting there, stonewalling the citizens. Without the constraints of an OCP, development will be out of control, and so will the costs to serve those developments, and taxes will be spiralling into orbit, as an intransigent city council has put Peachland on a collision course to meet that reality.

Politicians have embraced growth-at-any-cost to pursue their personal and political ambitions and teaming up with developers the doors for corruption are wide open.

The city of Vancouver opened the flood-gates to billions of dollars of drug and off-shore money, and it has destroyed the lower mainland real estate market, radically inflating the cost of housing. Today people are forced out of their homes because of huge increases in property taxes and rental space is becoming smaller and pricier, completely out of reach for the working people.

The Okanagan has not been immune to that tsunami, and city councillors up and down the valley have embraced this ‘fool’s gold’ like it was the salvation to make up for their financial shortcomings.

While Peachland city council turned their backs on the people to embrace an out of town developer, the Mayor of Kelowna voted no to the latest application to exceed the height restriction in the city’s OCP.

Does that mean there finally is light at the end of the tunnel?

Andy Thomsen

Don't know where Andy Thomsen got his information, but the "Mayor of Kelowna" sold out as well.