City council will be asked to make a decision in the new year regarding where financial institutions should be located.
On the Jan. 5 agenda of the city’s development and planning services committee meeting is an application for a zoning amendment to add financial institution to the list of permitted uses in the C-7 shopping centre commercial zone.
The applicant is the owner of the Mall at Piccadilly, the Standard Life Assurance Company of Canada.
“Standard Life sees the opportunity to add a financial institution to Piccadilly Mall’s tenant mix as being complementary to the services already provided such as the Okanagan Regional Library, a postal outlet and our medical service providers,” states a letter from the applicants, adding a financial institution would be convenient for residents of nearby Piccadilly Terrace and Piccadilly Care Centre, as well as other residents and businesses located nearby.
A city staff report notes the city adopted three bylaws between July 2008 and December 2010, all with the overriding concern of maintaining the viability of Salmon Arm’s traditional downtown core.
One of those, in December 2010, removed financial institution from the CD-8 zone, the zone governing the SmartCentres site.
“Banks, credit unions, financial and insurance agencies exist as important anchors to any commercial node, collectivity pulling in clients and commerce,” states the staff report. “The loss of one or more banks/credit unions from this area would have a negative impact on the downtown core.”
It goes on to say that the decision to allow ‘financial institution’ in the C-9 zone at the Uptown Askew’s site was “somewhat consistent” with past and present official community plans.
“It also made sense from a proximity planning perspective, as the majority of Salmon Arm’s population resides closer to that site compared to the downtown core,” the report adds.
It points out that either Centenoka Mall or the Mall at Piccadilly, both zoned C-7, could accommodate “a small-scale financial institution within their respective building areas assuming leased floor space became vacant in either mall. Neither mall presently has sufficient land to expand building area without compromising more parking spaces (both malls have been granted significant parking stall variances over the years).”
