Council, led by Mayor, Sharon Shepherd, has reversed an earlier decision and will support an application by local developer Al Stober. Earlier this year, council rejected a request by Stober that it support his application to have 22 acres of land south of Summit Drive removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve. Stober had asked the city support his application to have the land removed from the ALR citing a commitment made by a previous council after the city used a portion of the land to construct a portion of Summit Drive, required as a second way in and out of the Dilworth Mountain development. Mayor Shepherd, who originally voted against the request, asked the item come back to council after reviewing historical documents relevant to the request. The original vote was 4-3 against Stober's request.
After receiving a history lesson from Stober representative, Gerry Tonn, Shepherd changed her vote, allowing the request to pass 4-3. Tonn argued before council that council's own policy supports exclusion of the land from the ALR. "It is you, the City of Kelowna, in your Official Community Plan and other policy documents, that support exclusion of that parcel and the use of that parcel for urban residential purposes," says Tonn. Despite the outcome, the local developer still must convince the Agricultural Land Commission to grant the application. Stober is hoping to build a single and multi-family residential development on the property.
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