A rezoning application to accommodate up to 120 multi-family residential units on 11th Street SE is going to a public hearing at the Salmon Arm Recreation Centre.
Applicant Gary Arsenault is applying on behalf of a B.C. numbered company to build a seniors housing development on 3.9 hectares – about 9.6 acres – just south of Okanagan Avenue SE on two adjoining parcels, 70 11th St. SE and 200 11th St. SE.
The zoning would change from R1, single family dwelling, on one portion to R4, medium density residential. The properties are designated ‘high density residential’ in the official community plan.
At the city’s June 15 planning and development services meeting, Martin Gardner spoke on behalf of Vancouver Resource Society, which he said purchased Andover Terrace in April and also owns Shuswap Lodge.
He said Shuswap Village, which is the name of the proposed development, would try to attract a younger, more active senior than residents in existing independent living and assisted living facilities.
“We really looked at what’s important to a 65-year-old, a 75-year-old…,” he said. What people want are a community and a sense of community, to have financial control, and to be around family and friends.
He said the village concept fits those criteria. He added that 15 to 20 per cent of the approximate 350 people who have expressed an interest in Shuswap Village, which would be a pilot project in B.C., are from out of town.
Read more: Council to consider multi-housing development off Okanagan Avenue
Read more: New ‘active living’ development planned in Salmon Arm for 65+ residents
Development of the two properties has been tried before.
A city staff report stated that in 2018 a subdivision application was made by Franklin Engineering Ltd. on behalf of the owner to create 28 single-family lots within a strata with R-1 zoning. The application expired. That applicant was unable to provide documentation required to address local traffic concerns or the provincial requirements for moving the creek into a piped system.
Staff explained that the creek runs from one corner of the property to the other, so the development couldn’t happen without the creek going into a pipe.
The challenges to creating a development on the property have been discussed at both the June 15 planning meeting and at first and second readings of the rezoning application at council’s June 22 meeting.
Before final reading, a Riparian Areas Regulation report regarding the creek must be compiled by a qualified environmental professional, a traffic study must be completed, a road reserve must be finalized and a Greenways link created. Because of the steep terrain, the project may also require a Potential Hazard Areas development permit.
The first to be held in person in Salmon Arm since COVID-19 restrictions began, the public hearing is set for 7 p.m., Monday, July 13 in the rec centre. Social distancing precautions will be in effect.
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