WEST KELOWNA – West Kelowna council is considering offering a financial carrot to developers to try to breathe some life into the district’s downtown core.
Developers of projects that meet certain criteria may have their development cost charges reduced or even eliminated.
Those charges are collected to help pay for the burdon developments place on public infrastructure such as roads and sewers.
The district’s preference is for higher density, mixed-use projects such as a combination of commercial and residential.
“If we get more people living in Westbank Centre, then what you’re going to see is the commercial businesses being much more viable as well,” says Director of Development Services Nancy Henderson.
For projects that make the grade, the development cost charges would be reduced between 30 and 100 percent.
Henderson says the savings for developers could reach a million dollars.
“The more the development looks like what we want to see in our Westbank Centre Plan, the greater the reduction the developer is going to get. So for example, if you have underground parking and higher density and mixed uses you’re going to get a greater reduction than if you’re at lower density with surface parking.”
West Kelowna council could enact the proposed D-C-C reductions at its February 24th meeting.
The bylaw would be temporary. The plan is to have the incentive period end in March 2018.
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