Regional building stats point to heightened construction activity

PENTICTON – After several years of slow growth, the Okanagan Similkameen Regional District is seeing a surge in building activity.

Development services manager Donna Butler says 2014 was "a very busy year" and statistics so far indicate 2015 on track to meet or exceed last year’s building activity.

To date, the regional district has issued 233 permits compared to 199 at the same time last year.

Butler says dollar wise, the value of permits issued this year is similar to 2014, but the number of permits is on the rise.

Value of construction so far this year totals $17.5 million, while last year’s values for the same period totalled $18.2 million.

While the number of homes under construction are approximately the same as last year, the number of smaller, accessory buildings is up in the regional district.

Naramata is showing the most activity with the highest values, while rural Princeton has the highest number of permits, but with lower values.

Butler says the district expects to issue as many as 80 permits to properties in the Kennedy Lake area, west of Princeton, as part of a process to bring those properties into legal compliance with district bylaws. Forty permits have been issued so far.

Okanagan Falls and rural Oliver are also seeing heightened construction activity.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.