Another week, another high rise proposal for Kelowna

[Scrobins94]

Sure, why not? Looks beautiful and it's not right by the water.



https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/3 ... aul-Street

[deedub]

41 stories , currently zoned for 19 . What the heck , why not .

[TylerM4]

Is it out of place? Or a new reality for Kelowna? I say the latter.

I've lived in the area my entire life, wasn't that long ago that anything over 3 stories was "out of place".

Sorry, I'll be concerned about the firefighting aspects when fire crews and/or the chief express concerns themselves. Until then, people acting concerned on their behalf don't really concern me. There are ways to mitigate fire risks that don't involve 400ft ladder trucks and dozens of members on site.

[Even Steven]

Good location.

Will look nice next to the UBC-O project.

[Steve-O]

I like it. Our downtown area needs life and this is what it will bring.

Just Browsing, I think your fire issues have been discussed and explained on other similar threads.

[one wheel]

Why bother having any height requirement if a property that was zoned for 19 stories gets ignored by developers who propose 41 & have a good chance that this might get council's approval ?

Something that's not mentioned clearly is what about the infrastructure needed to support all this development ?

Could the present services for the sewer, water, gas & electrical systems handle this tremendous increase or will the streets need to be torn up for months to install larger lines ?

Why don't Kelowna residents hear from the Fire Chief & have him explain if these high rise buildings present a problem or not & put this concern to rest ?

[AlienSoldier]

This is un@$%#ing real now.

Enough is enough with the out of place erections in the sky.

Best!

[alanjh595]

Something that's not mentioned clearly is what about the infrastructure needed to support all this development ?

Could the present services for the sewer, water, gas & electrical systems handle this tremendous increase or will the streets need to be torn up for months to install larger lines ?

The upgrading of services is only a temporary problem, eventually these pipes and wires will be buried and covered in pavement/concrete. The long-term problem is going to be traffic and transprtation of all these people.

Where are they going to park?
Are the streets in that area, right now, 2 lanes (1 each way) with curbside hourly parking?
~~~Let's say that there is a line of cars waiting to turn into their parking garage on the right. They have to wait (as does all traffic behind them) for them to get out off the road so that jammed-up traffic can pass by.
Now every other car, truck, bus, has to wait for the security gate to open to allow that those couple of residents into their parking stalls.
Now throw in, emergency vehicles that need to get to the next block to save someone's life.
It's going to be like trying to get through traffic while on the parking deck of a BC Ferrie.

I witnessed the same thing in China, an ambulance is sitting in traffic, with lights and sirens blasting, but can't move, because the traffic ahead have no place to go.

[Symbonite]

Finally they are building up instead of out. If they really want to be of a less car dependant city then this is the way to do it with foot traffic downtown.

It is how it has to be because I rather see highrises then a sea of million dollar houses that permanantly etch and change the landscape of the surrounding mountains. i mean look at black mountain...now its a sea of lights at night.

[lesliepaul]

Maybe the developer for this one can install diving boards at the top of the 41st floor............NINE of them will do the trick, that way they can all hold hands and jump in unison.

[CrystalCity]

This is un@$%#ing real now.

Enough is enough with the out of place erections in the sky.

I'll say it again... we are a city with only 24 firefighters on duty at any given point of time. A requirement for high rise firefighting operations by every other city in North America is to have a minimum of 45 fire personnel at the structure within 600 seconds.

The ENTIRE CITY forgoes their rights to a fire department while dealing with an emergency in a high rise. How is this fair to the rest of the City? The upper Mission, Glenmore, Quail Ridge, the Airport, Wilden, Downtown, Rutland, Black Mountain, Lower Mission, KLO area, North Glenmore, Clifton, McKinley landing, East Kelowna, South East Kelowna, the North End, parts of Ellison, parts of Lake Country, and more are all forfeiting their rights to ANY and ALL emergency services when even a small fire breaks out in a high rise no matter if it has sprinklers or not!

All of us...the ENTIRE city gives up our emergency protection for one single event in a highrise incident yet no one seems to investigate as to how Kelowna is doing this while no other city in North America (possibly the world) is doing this.

Please explain how this is even a thing!

Actually the city is also supported by the West Kelowna FD and RDCO departments. if there were that many fires happening in the valley at once then bigger issues are taking place and I'd expect evacuation notices happening.

Possibly the world? I can think of several places that likely have substandard fire services.

[just popping in]

Why bother having any height requirement if a property that was zoned for 19 stories gets ignored by developers who propose 41 & have a good chance that this might get council's approval ?

Something that's not mentioned clearly is what about the infrastructure needed to support all this development ?

Could the present services for the sewer, water, gas & electrical systems handle this tremendous increase or will the streets need to be torn up for months to install larger lines ?

Why don't Kelowna residents hear from the Fire Chief & have him explain if these high rise buildings present a problem or not & put this concern to rest ?

Did you miss this article?

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/3 ... y-grows-up

[voice of reason]

downtown is already ruined so it fits right in with the other monstrosities. i would like this city to sit down and make a plan and stick to it though. its not too much to ask. they made a plan not to exceed 24 stories and the developers know the city is nothing more than a rubber stamp factory so they dont even try to build a 24 story here. they just go straight for the gold and ask for 40+ stories . i have a feeling if we made a moratorium on buildings over 50 stories they would just ask council for exemptions to build 100 stories . the developers have zero respect for the city as the city sells itself out every time.

[OKkayak]

Get used to it. The North American ideology of building cities outwards is unsustainable, only one way to go for an ever increasing population

[alanjh595]

Finally they are building up instead of out. If they really want to be of a less car dependant city then this is the way to do it with foot traffic downtown.

It is how it has to be because I rather see highrises then a sea of million dollar houses that permanantly etch and change the landscape of the surrounding mountains. i mean look at black mountain...now its a sea of lights at night.

I just invested in a pre-sale apartment in Burnaby.......800sqft 1bdrm.........another $32,000 for 1 parking stall.
That's an 8X10 stall, or 1/10th the size of the unit, for 50% of the sqft cost of the unit.

If I could have 10 parking stalls, I could rent them out for more than the unit........and.......no maintenance or hassle, no wear & tear, no calls at midnight because the tenant lost the key, no plugged plumbing.