Planning in Kelowna

[John Zeger]

There are two excellent letters to the editor in the July 22, 2005 issue of the Capital News. One is by our own Rick Shea entitled "Agenda behind the words." The other is by Ed Brown of Kelowna called "Unimpedede invasion." Rick's letter and a link to Ed Brown's can be found on our letters page at www.saveparadise.com. Ed Brown if you are reading this, please contact us at [e-mail] .

And while you are at our letters page, read "Development Doesn't Mean Progress" by John Zeger and follow the link to Harvey Molotch's classic article "The City as an Urban Growth Machine" on our home page or the Articles and Links page.

[John Zeger]

In the Daily Courier's editorial of Aug. 2, 2005 managing editor John Harding writes about the growth explosion that will occur in Kelowna and elsewhere in the Okanagan as a result of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the publicity therefrom. Harding is correct here is forecasting that the world will discover us and will want to move here in droves. It's already beginning to happen. The other week there was an article in the Japanese edition of Newsweek magazine featuring Kelowna as a desirable place to live. Harding says "We'd better be ready."

The only way to get ready for the hordes that are about to overrun us and the resultant threats to our quality of life and environment is to implement some population growth controls fast. The critical event is the civic election being held in Kelowna this November. It is imperative that we elect city councillors who favour population growth controls or we can kiss our way of life here in Kelowna goodbye.

[John Zeger]

On Aug. 9, 2006 the Daily Courier reported that Kelowna city councillors will be taking a trip to Vancouver to find out the latest trends in urban development. The newspaper also reported that "the Urban Development Insititute, made of private firms in the construction and planning industry, helped with the trip last time and might do so again," according to Councillor Robert Hobson.

There are two things wrong here. First, why is Kelowna city council getting their planning ideas from Vancouver? That makes sense only if it is the city's goal to become like Vancouver which will inadvertently happen by using it as a planning model. Instead of travelling to an urban jungle like Vancouver replete with crime and trafffic congestion why not go to successful mid-size cities like Boulder, Colorado to see how they have successfully maintained their sustainability and quality of life?

Second, it is interesting to note that the development industry may help to fund this trip. Why would they do that if not to encourage city council to develop our city as a high density city like Vancouver? And I'm sure that when it comes time to approve specific developments and to revise the Official Community Plan that they will be looking for a quid pro quo.

[Rick Shea]

A number of people in Kelowna, including some members of our very own council, cite Vancouver as the model to be copied here. Today's Globe and Mail contains a revealing column about Vancouver, and shows how it too is becoming unaffordable, and a city for the wealthy only.

Is Vancouver now copying Kelowna?

[Rick Shea]

I hear on the Kelowna radio stations that city council may finally be coming to some sort of sense of reality. Council has acknowledged that the buildout prescribed by the 2020 plan has almost all happened already in some areas, including the Pandosy-Lakeshore area and the North Mission, and that infrastructure is near capacity and lagging behind. Council has even suggested (gasp) that we slow the rate of development in those areas until the new OCP is ready in 2 years.

Be prepared for rumblings about the new sewage treatment plant and the tax hit from that, and for significant tax increases to deal with the infrastructure issues. Then, in 2 years, development can continue with its current moderate and pleasant pace in Kelowna, of course.