Kelowna geologist and multimillionaire Charles Edgar Fipke filed a petition against the City of Kelowna and Aqua Resort Ltd. to stop a current waterfront project from being built.
The project will include three towers of 13, 15 and 17 storeys and is set to be built next to Fipke’s home on Capozzi Road, just south of the Eldorado Hotel. Fipke is asking the court to restrain the development, saying city’s decision to authorize the project’s permits is unreasonable because it allows a proposal beyond the power of the Kelowna city council to approve. He cites zoning bylaw #8000, which states that the maximum permitted floor area ratio (FAR) is 1.5 times the total square footage of lots.
“The FAR as represented to council is incorrect. The land base for the calculation is 203,437.9 square feet and the FAR is 1.981,” read the petition.
The petition also stated that the developer is building on land that is not part of the original lot. The project will be built beyond the shoreline of Okanagan Lake which is not buildable land nor within the zone that permits a FAR of 1.5, said Fipke.
The permits in question authorize a development that is prohibited by the statutory scheme in place. The decision to approve them was thus unreasonable.
“The permits should be quashed,” wrote Fipke in the petition.
The petition comes after Mission Group filed a development permit application to build the Aqua resort. Mission Group purchased land along Okanagan Lake with the intention of building a waterfront resort. City council rezoned the area in 2017 to allow for the resort’s development but the application was never filed until four years later. Kelowna residents in the area have generally been against big developments and have historically asked the city to “take the foot off the accelerator.”
The petition was filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver.
READ MORE: Pandosy residents ask Kelowna to slow development
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