Carriage houses may be coming soon to West Kelowna

WEST KELOWNA – Residents in the Westbank centre and other select parts of West Kelowna could soon see carriage houses popping up in a nearby laneway.

Council is due to give third reading to the draft regulations governing the new category of residential developments, the latest step in a lengthy process that began in 2012.

This follows a public hearing held in June where staff say no real opposition was registered against the sometimes controversial form of infill housing, designed to increase density without drastically changing neighbourhoods.

Councillors will also consider a number of bylaw amendments necessary to allow carriage houses, including changes to the official community plan and the zoning bylaw.

Carriage or coach houses as some know them, have an uneven history in B.C. Kelowna has allowed them for 14 years under its RU-6 zoning while Vancouver is just now considering them.

One area where West Kelowna differs from Kelowna is the requirement for a formal business license with the carriage house viewed as income generating activity.

The new zoning will require connection to city sewer and water or be connected to septic services on a minimum lot size of one hectare.

A building permit application will be the same for carriage houses, the equivalent of 1.14 per cent of construction cost.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.