Controversial waterfront project approved

Approval of a controversial four-storey building on Peachland’s waterfront shows the town is open for business, councillors say.

Council’s decision to endorse the project should help erode the business community’s perception the town of 5,500 people doesn’t want significant new development, Coun. Pam Cunningham says.

“We have to be more open. We’ve been so closed in the past,” Cunningham said a Tuesday night’s meeting.

“Many developers say, ‘Don’t even try and go to Peachland because you’re not going to get anywhere,’” she said.

The 52-foot-high mixed-use project, at 4316 Beach Ave., presents an attractive look at how the town’s waterfront area is likely to evolve in the coming years, she said.

“This is what we see the future of Peachland as. Height really doesn’t matter at the end of the day. Ten, 20, 30, 40 years from now it’s going to all be mixed-use commercial.”

Most properties along Beach Avenue outside the small downtown area consist of single-family homes, some many decades old. The town’s official community plan has encouraged, without much success, redevelopment of precisely the kind council was being asked to approve on Tuesday, Mayor Cindy Fortin said.

“This isn’t something that we haven’t thought through,” Fortin said. “Beach Avenue is eventually going to be built up. . . one of the things we’ve really tried to achieve through the official community plan is higher density downtown.

“I think this building is gong to be a great investment in our community, and I welcome seeing some more nice projects like this,” she said.

Seventy-five people attended a public hearing on the project last year and almost all of the 22 who addressed council spoke against the development.

Critics said the building was too high and out of keeping with the character of Beach Avenue.

“I realize there were a lot of people at the public hearing who didn’t like the height of it, but I think, in the end, when you look at the greater community, there were a lot more people who didn’t come to the public hearing to complain about it,” Fortin said.

Two years ago, council approved a similarly-sized, similarly-contentious mixed-use project closer to downtown project. But construction of that project, called Peach Tree Village, has never started.

Special to The Daily Courier In Peachland, this passes for controversy: Town council has approved this four-storey building, with a rooftop patio, for a site on Beach Avenue between two single-family homes. Dozens of people spoke against the project at a public hearing but councillors said the development was in the best interest of the town.