P2 highrise project gets council OK

By JOHN MOORHOUSE Wednesday, November 4, 2009 Penticton Herald:

Despite public concerns about a 23-storey highrise development forever changing the character of Penticton, city council has given a thumbs-up to the proposed P2 complex. Close to 100 people crowded into council chambers Monday night for a public hearing into rezoning the former Super-Valu property on Martin Street to allow the project to proceed. After two-and-a-half hours of input -- roughly evenly split pro and con -- council voted 6-1 in favour of third reading of zoning and official community plan amendments. Only Coun. Garry Litke was opposed. Plans call for three towers from 20 to 23 stories tall, including a three to four-storey parking/commercial space podium. Up to 50 hotel rooms, a full-size grocery store and a restaurant would be included. Architect Cal Meiklejohn said the P2 development will have parking for 537 vehicles, mostly for apartment residents, but will include about 50 public stalls.

Developer Rick Borsuk of Surrey-based Sunwest Inc. noted his company has been in existence for 35 years and is not about to flip the property through a quick sale after rezoning. However, others expressed concerns about the height of the towers – more than double the 10-storey maximum for downtown as outlined in the official community plan. Mike Watkins, a member of the city‘s former OCP high density review committee, said rather than have developers direct changes to the community plan, the city should have development based on planning. “My other major concern is that 23 storeys will become the de facto height of anything else that comes before council in the downtown core,” Watkins said. “Once that height is established, you can‘t say ’No‘ to anybody else.” Litke tried unsuccessfully to gain council support for a motion to have the city re-enter talks with the developer to reduce the height of the towers. “I‘ve been supportive of this project all along. It‘s incorporating many of the things we want to see in smart growth and density,” Litke said afterwards. “But we heard tonight (during the public hearing) there were a number of concerns about the height.”

But Coun. John Vassilaki said a higher skyline and increased density downtown shouldn‘t be viewed as a negative. “The biggest problem we have in Penticton is that we cannot get used to change,” he said. “Folks, you‘ve got to understand that change is coming and there‘s nothing anyone of us can do about it.” Vassilaki noted he built a four-storey, 24-unit apartment building on Winnipeg Street in 1970, which at the time was the tallest residential building in the city.
He added the P2 development could lead to other projects to bolster the city‘s economy. “This project is going to generate others to Penticton and building even more – and that‘s what we require.” he said. Andre Martin, president of the Downtown Penticton Association, said the P2 development could generate an economic boost for the community. “The more people downtown, the more things will happen,” he said. Martin suggested the P2 project could also spur development of the Three Gables site. The Main Street property has remained vacant since the hotel burned down in 2000.

Benny Wolfe, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor a year ago, called for more public amenities in the complex, including a rooftop restaurant. Final council approval remains on hold, pending consolidation of the lots involved, completion of a phased development agreement, and a highrise fire protection covenant.