Plans for the Kelowna Innovation Centre include a public space on its roof-top, complete with a synthetic lawn, real trees and seating areas.
What wasn’t in the approved plans is a 500 square-foot addition to the indoor facilities up there.
“They came back to council last week to say, ‘we made it 500 square feet larger, will you approve this?'” Kelowna city councilor Luke Stack said.
During the discussions about what the space would be used for, the city heard that the intention was to apply for a primary liquor licence for the establishment.
“That was the part that I went, ‘hold on, this is not what we
planned for,'” Stack said.
“It would be like someone in your neighbourhood allowed to have loud barbecue parties every night until two in the morning,” said Florrie McCallum, a resident of the Madison apartment building next door.
Directors of the Innovation Centre say they never planned to put a nightclub on the roof – that the liquor primary licence application was advised because
of the small kitchen facilities that can fit in the space.
“Loud music, 2 a.m. outdoor activity, people spilling into the street at closing; that was never our intention,” Innovation Centre director Jeff Keen said.
The Innovation Centre has now dropped plans to apply for the liquor primary licence but it still plans to put a small restaurant in the space if council allows it.
“So now council will decide to allow it to be used as a restaurant or to have it torn down,” Mayor Colin Basran said.
City council has deferred it’s decision on the variance until it collects more facts and reviews the building’s original plans.
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