Opposition is brewing over the height of a proposed apartment building in a small community in B.C.’s Southern Interior.
Located about an hour east of Osoyoos, ringed by mountains and tucked just above the U.S. border, the Village of Midway is home to about 650 people.
And if the opposed variance proposal is passed by village council, it will soon be home to a five-storey building – Midway’s tallest, and two storeys above the village’s limit.
As buildings go, five storeys may not seem tall, especially when compared to a 64-storey building currently under construction in Burnaby.
However, with parts of the province seeing noticeable population growth as people leave big cities, some small-town residents are fighting to keep their communities as rural, not urban.
Midway resident Judy Willsey says the developer’s variance request should be denied, stating the village’s official community plan has a building limit of three storeys.
“This is a community where most people have moved to get away from bigger, urban centres,” Willsey told Global News. “That’s what they left behind when they moved here.
“We wanted a quiet, rural community. It’s been like that for a long time. It’s a very close-knit community where everybody knows each other.”
According to Willsey and fellow Midway resident Brenda Steer, Midway’s tallest structures are a pair of three-storey buildings.
Steer said she has no problems with the proposed apartment building being three storeys, “but we don’t want it going above the bylaw.”
“This is a small village and we want to keep it that way,” said Steer, adding if one variance is allowed, it’s possible taller buildings could then be allowed. “I don’t want to see that happen.”
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Willsey says the community understands there’s a pressing need for more housing and has no problem with the proposed three-storey height. But, like Steer, says five storeys is too much.
Further, she says just seven people living within 30 metres of the proposed apartment building were directly notified of the variance request.
The village, though, does have a notice of development variance permit on its website, dated May 12. The variance vote will take place on Monday, June 21.
There is no mention of the variance request on the village’s Facebook page.
Steer said the only place the village posted it was on their main website, “and we don’t have a reason to check that website every day.”
Notably, on the variance notification page, the city said submissions on the variance would be accepted until May 28. A vote was to take place on June 7 but was postponed until June 21.
Midway Mayor Martin Fromme said council, as a group, will be discussing the variance for the first time at Monday’s meeting.
Willsey said though the village may not be taking written submissions, they have a petition with 115 signatures – or roughly one-sixth of Midway’s population.
“We thought we could make council sit up and take notice if we had 30 signatures,” said Willsey. “So we’re really happy about that and we haven’t even covered the whole town.”
Though it’s too late to officially submit the petition, Steer says they still plan on giving copies to council members sometime Monday.
“That’s a lot of signatures for a 600-population village,” said Steer. “Obviously people are not wanting it as far as I can tell.”
A letter sent to Global News details a recommendation from Midway’s chief administrative officer that council approve the development variance permit.
The letter says council considered correspondence from the applicant on Jan. 4 regarding the proposed redevelopment of the 1.4-hectare (3.5 acres) site at 430 Lyall Street.
“Council directed staff to forward a letter to the applicant advising that they look forward to receiving further information on the redevelopment,” reads the letter.
“The CAO subsequently met with the applicant to discuss the details of the proposal. It was determined that the proposed five-storey (18.6 metre-high) building would need a height variance because it is proposed to be higher than 11 metres, which is what the zoning bylaw allows.”
The letter said the village received the application and supporting documentation in April.
The letter also says “it is noted that the Local Government Act does not require a public hearing or advertising for a development variance permit application. It is further noted that community input was significant during the development of the Official Community Plan and Zoning Bylaw, both of which identify this site for future multi-family use.”
Willsey called the lack of notification concerning, stating “there’s been no transparency at all. They notified seven people out of a village of 670. Almost everyone here is going to be able to see that building.”
Steer added, “to me, it’s not transparent at all.”
Global News has reached out to the Village of Midway for comment but has not heard back in time of publication.