The Wedge has wedged its way back into Kelowna council chambers.
The uniquely-shaped — and aptly named — six-storey office building proposed at the corner of Leon Avenue and Water Street initially came to council in March — not receiving city staff’s support.
That was mainly due to issues surrounding the site’s inability to contain 10 parking stalls as required in the area’s zoning and the applicant’s unwillingness to pay cash-in-lieu for not having those spaces. The cash-in-lieu of parking bylaw would’ve seen $330,000 paid to the city, which would make the development financially impractical, according to the applicant.
Council deferred its decision to allow the applicant more time to work with city staff towards a solution regarding the development’s parking stall issues.
This time around, the application is set to go to council with staff support.
The proposal would still see no on-site parking, but due to council’s suggestion of compromise, the applicant would pay cash-in-lieu on three stalls, totalling $99,000, and a variance will be issued for the other seven.
Besides parking, several other variances would also be needed for the proposal to go ahead, including three variances related to the property’s setback, one related to a lack of short-term bicycle parking and one to reduce the minimum commercial frontage below the 90 per cent required.
The building would consist of one or two retail tenants on the first floor — the report mentions a bar, cafe or restaurant as a likely option — upper floor offices and a common rooftop patio.
Despite the small building footprint and the small total building area, the applicant has included a bike storage room for 13 long-term bike stalls on the ground floor to encourage active transportation. Washrooms, change rooms, lockers, and showers would be available alongside those stalls.
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