Public input sought for Pandosy waterfront

KELOWNA – The city is inviting the public to get involved with the planning of the Pandosy waterfront.

Input from residents will be collected through a website until Feb. 21, when the information will go to a public design workshop called a charrette, scheduled for Feb. 25-26.

The group will be made up of volunteers representing residents, businesses and community organizations.

“(This) has been a long-standing goal of the City to bring Pandosy by the lake actually to the lake,” said Derek Edstrom, Director of Real Estate. “The Pandosy waterfront is an underutilized area that is in need of revitalization. We believe there’s an ability to bring a fresh look at this area and also really bring the community in to help move this project forward.”

Those outside the group will still have the opportunity to comment at the end of the workshop.

The latest proposal for the more than 1000 meters of waterfront seeks to see most of the land sold, with the remaining four lots being turned into a park, complete with Paddle Centre.

Council endorsed a set of eight project guidelines, which call for inclusion of a Paddle centre, a condition that will require no tax impact on the city as well as a possible financial return to the city. Plans also must incorporate a park and waterfront walkway.

“The purpose of this engagement process would be to create an understanding and awareness of this project and where it’s at now and to collect community input on the site design,” said Communications Supervisor Jodie Foster-Sexsmith. “To do this we need to have a transparent process so one of the things that we want to do is make sure there is input collected.”

For more information on the process, visit this website.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca, call (250) 718-0428 or tweet @AdamProskiw.