Is there a market for a 90-unit adult residential development in Clearwater?
That’s was Salmon Arm resident Gary Arsenault wants to know.
Arsenault has worked on several similar developments already in other locations, and now has his eye on a 21-acre parcel he owns between Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital and near Highway 5.
Emerald Village on Park Drive would be a gated community, he said, but added that the gate for a similar gated community he helped develop in Salmon Arm probably has only been closed once in the several years since it opened.
The fence around the development would be four feet high.
Primary target clientele would be seniors from the North Thompson Valley who want to downsize to a smaller home on a minimum-maintenance, landscaped lot.
Secondary clientele would be older people from northern B.C. and Alberta seeking a less rigorous climate but not interested in moving to a city.
The location has many advantages, he pointed out, with the hospital and the new Buy-Low shopping centre nearby.
The proposed Bearview shopping centre would be immediately adjacent.
Prospective residents would be offered their choice of several different home designs and sizes to choose
from.
The homes would be affordable and seniors friendly, he said.
District of Clearwater likely would require a road between Arsenault’s development and the Bearview centre. This road would extend to connect to Park Drive.
Kinder Morgan’s Transmountain pipeline, which runs through the development, would continue to be available as a public trail.
Arsenault is considering doing a questionnaire to get public feedback on his proposal.
