Kelowna city staff recommend council support controversial supportive housing project

KELOWNA – Despite strong community opposition, City of Kelowna staff are recommending council support a rezoning application for a supportive housing project.

B.C. Housing is applying to rezone land on 2025 Agassiz Road near Orchard Plaza from a large lot housing zone to a multi-family zone in order to build a 52-unit supportive housing complex.

Supportive housing is designed to help homeless people transition from the streets or shelters into secure housing, which B.C. Housings says helps them get their lives back together. The project will likely include a number or residents who have drug and/or alcohol addictions.

Earlier this month, neighbours picketed a B.C. Housing open house in protest against the project saying seniors are living in fear for their safety because of the type of residents expected to live at the Agassiz Road housing complex.

The report going to city council Monday, Nov. 26, supports the B.C. Housing application, saying the project conforms to the Official Community Plan and is within the Midtown Urban Centre.

“It is an appropriate location for increased residential density as it is well supported by nearby amenities, services and transit,” the report states. “Many of the neighbouring properties already have a similar residential zoning.”

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