Penticton city council approved plans to overhaul a downtown building that has become a hub for “undesirable” activity.
The building located at 352 Winnipeg St. was previously home to Victory Church before the building was sold in 2018. Council gave their approval of an application to rezone the building on Tuesday (March 3).
READ MORE: Changes coming soon to Victory Church
The City’s director of development services, Blake Laven, explained that the building has become a hot spot for drug use and vagrancy. According to Laven, bylaw staff have been frequently called to the building.
“It has attracted a lot of undesirable activity, including vagrancy and drug use in that area. Our bylaw staff has attended this property on multiple occasions,” said Laven.
“We feel this is a positive improvement to what currently exists.”
The large concrete building was originally constructed in 1990 as the Penticton Inn and Conference Centre and operated as Victory Church from 2006 to late 2018.
The building’s new owners, who were not identified in the meeting, are proposing a complete redevelopment of the building. The plans include a new entrance facing Winnipeg St., converting the second floor to an office space and residential unit, and converting the parking lot to self-storage.
The blueprints for the proposed re-development. (City of Penticton)
Laven said these proposed changes will bring more activity to the area and make the building a safer place.
Council unanimously voted in favour of moving the application to a March 17 public hearing where council will vote on final approval.
READ MORE: “Unusable” state of public facilities concerns Penticton city staff
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