What am I missing in this story??

[southy]

https://www.castanet.net/news/Penticton ... lly-killed

Council reaches agreement with developer in 2009 and then shortly after the agreement was ratified by council, the city and developer learned the towers violated the Penticton Airport's regulations limiting buildings on the flight path out of the airport to 10 storeys. I could be wrong on this but aren't the towers over on Lakeshore 15 stories?

Then, Council voted in 2011 to extend the agreement to allow Transport Canada the chance to review its policy, but have recently heard any changes would likely see the rules tightened, not loosened. So that was 2 years after the fact that COP waits for Transport Canada. Did the city approach Transport Canada or the developer or both?

Today, December 2017 - another 6 years since the city extended the agreement to allow Transport Canada the chance to review it's policy our present day Mayor says ... “This would have been a great catalyst project for our downtown,” Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said, lamenting it took this long to get information out of Transport Canada. “ Let me see if I can really understand this. It has taken 6 years to obtain information from Transport Canada? There is either a real problem within Transport Canada or a real problem with City Hall not being able to move forward in getting an answer. Not sure which. Then there is still the developer and City hall, both who new of the restrictions being placed by Transport Canada. I do not believe these restrictions are new for our town, height restrictions have been with us for many years. City hall new this yet entered into an agreement with the developer for 23 stories.

Sorry, I still seem to be missing something from all of this. Exactly what I'm not sure, but something tells me there is definitely more to this story. So the developer gets their $150,000 back and simply walk away? Interesting to say the least.
Perhaps others have more information that might shed a little more light on this.

[twobits]

The developers should get their 150k back....and with interest. It was deposited in good faith with the assumption that the City would be aware of any and all building restrictions within their approval area. Apparently, something fell thru the cracks in the knowledge dept at City Hall when the project was first proposed. Call it a learning curve perhaps at best.
As for the other 15 story buildings already constructed? Either they are far enough out of what is considered flight path to the airport or they technically should never have been approved and it's too late now as they will never be torn down now at a cost of hundreds of millions that neither the City or Transport Canada wish to be on the hook for for lack of attention to detail.

An interesting outcome of this realization of height restriction due to airport requirements might one day in the future, considering the land constraints of the City and the desire for vertical densification VS expansion outwards, beg the question of if the airport at it's current location is appropriate or even needed at all?

[southy]

Thanks Twobits. Seems like one hell of a learning curve. Don't you think though that after 6 years a company like P2 who was prepared to spend millions on this project would have been been rattling the chains of Transport Canada and or local mps to get things done? Shouldn't the city have been a little more assertive in getting answers. Like you say though it matters not as it's just one more we can chalk up to on that learning curve.

[XT225]

Thanks Twobits. Seems like one hell of a learning curve. Don't you think though that after 6 years a company like P2 who was prepared to spend millions on this project would have been been rattling the chains of Transport Canada and or local mps to get things done? Shouldn't the city have been a little more assertive in getting answers. Like you say though it matters not as it's just one more we can chalk up to on that learning curve.

I recall going to the public hearings on the proposed project and it was pretty obvious that many were against it back in 2009. I also have to wonder why in heck, nobody from the City knew enough about buildings and flight paths to ask questions of Transport Canada at that time. Why its taken this long to finally put the brakes on it is just idiotic. Though, since it was well publicized back in 2009 to 2011 or so, someone from the airport must have known the rules and THEY should have spoken up at that time. I didn't think the city should give the 150 grand back at first but I've changed my mind on that one; the city could easily be sued for not having qualified staff that knew what was going on. Not sure who the council of the day was, but they hadn't a clue as well.

[twobits]

Thanks Twobits. Seems like one hell of a learning curve. Don't you think though that after 6 years a company like P2 who was prepared to spend millions on this project would have been been rattling the chains of Transport Canada and or local mps to get things done? Shouldn't the city have been a little more assertive in getting answers. Like you say though it matters not as it's just one more we can chalk up to on that learning curve.

Southy, in all honesty, we have no idea of what kind of efforts both the City or the developers put forth. What I do believe however is that we have all come to the same conclusion that dealing with Gov't bureaucracy at anything from Provincial to Federal is a exercise in patience and futility. It is so sad that 6 a six year delay is not only not shocking.....but actually the norm.
Having said that however, I have to consider that if the Project was as important to the City (as a catalyst for downtown as stated by the current Mayor said, and in fairness, his predecessor) and the developer for obvious reasons, why was there no reach out to the local MP(s) to put some pressure on Transport Canada for some clarification or variance on the rules on a case specific interpretation? Or was there some queries from our MP rep and this is just an example of just how inneffective local representation really is? I mean really??? Six friggen yrs? One would think that there would be some media coverage of an MP's efforts if the City had asked? And the project wasn't cancelled because Transport Canada didn't say NO, it was cancelled because Transport Canada couldn't fit it in their schedule to look at on a case by case analysis and instead just provided a blanket statement that any future rules would "likely be more stringent" than "current rules". Thanks very much GOC while we all wallow in your inefficiency and lack of common sense. Virtually no one opposed this redevelopment except a few crankpots that don't think anything in Penticton should be higher than 6 stories.
And they wonder why more people don't show up to vote.