With its heritage homes, mature trees and wide boulevards, the Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area is considered an important piece of Kelowna’s history.
“This was the first subdivision in Kelowna in 1904 and it’s a cherished area,” said Peter Chataway, an area resident.
But concerns are growing that changes to the city’s Official Community Plan (OCP) jeopardize that.
“They changed the heritage guidelines to accommodate the TOA, so they’ve weakened the guidelines,” said Susan Ames, area resident and president of the Friends and Residents of Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area Society.
TOA stands for Transit Oriented Area, provincial legislation implemented by the B.C. government in 2024 to encourage higher-density housing near major transit hubs.
In this case, the designation affects an area within 400 metres of Kelowna General Hospital, which includes the southern portion of the heritage conservation area
Residents opposing the changes say the legislation opens the door to land assemblies and six-storey apartment buildings that are out of character with the area.
“Completely not compatible with the neighbourhood or the heritage,” Chataway said.
On Thursday, concerned residents launched a public awareness campaign calling on the city to remove the TOA designation from the heritage area and restore single-family zoning.
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“We want the heritage guidelines reversed back to what they were before,” Ames said.
But the city said it can’t remove the designation, given it’s a piece of provincial legislation.
“The city is unable to consider the removal,” said Ryan Smith, divisional director of planning development and climate action at the City of Kelowna.
“The designation as a Transit Oriented Area is a provincial one and so the provincial government set that in legislation and they haven’t implied that they would remove it.”
But Smith did add that the city updated its heritage conservation area development guidelines following the introduction of the new legislation.
“So that new construction in these areas would compliment the existing heritage character of the area. Because its such a change, it’s not going to be perfect and I don’t think anybody claims its going to be perfect but to claim that we have the authority to remove the TOA and we are not, is not true.”
Heritage advocates argue the city still has authority to protect the area, citing a letter it received from the housing minister.
In it, Christine Boyle states, in part, “Under the TOA legislative framework, municipalities retain the ability to protect heritage buildings and make decisions about how sites with heritage features are developed.”
The letter goes on to say, “The TOA designation does not override the existing development guidelines for the Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area.”
“They don’t want to seem to listen to us,” Ames said. “We don’t know what else to do. So now we’re trying to raise community efforts to get people involved.”
The community efforts include putting up signage in the area and an online petition.
Chataway said while he supports additional housing density in Kelowna, it can’t come at the expense of historic neighbourhoods.
“We agree with them, 100 per cent,” Chataway said. “Just do it in a sensible way that protects existing assets such as heritage.”
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