Plans for a sizable development east of Knox Mountain may have hit a stumbling block.
Kelowna resident Murray Porubanec filed a petition in court this week looking for a judicial review of city council’s Aug. 23, 2022, approval of a development permit for a four-storey apartment complex at 630 Boynton Place.
At that meeting, councillors gave their stamp of approval to the 218-unit building but Porubanec said the decision was at odds with city zoning laws.
In particular, the buildings in the final drawings are higher than the maximum allowable height and have shorter front yards than permitted under zoning bylaws. That, he said, could have impacts on the local community’s traffic, parking availability and environment.
“Council’s decision to authorize the issuance of the development permit thus suffers from an irreconcilable internal conflict inasmuch as it simultaneously requires compliance with plans contrary to the zoning restrictions on height front yard and compliance with those zoning restrictions on height and front yard,” reads the petition filed in Kelowna this week.
Porubanec, a full-time resident and an owner of a property in immediate proximity to the subject lands, said Friday he and a group of other interested community members just want to ensure the process is properly followed.
A GoFundMe set up to fuel the judicial review has already gained $8,300. Anything that goes above and beyond what’s needed for legal fees is expected to be diverted to a local charity.
“I’m pro-business, and I’m pro-development. I love seeing the growth within the city,” Porubanec said.
“But at the end of the day, I just think that you have to follow the rules and you have got to check all the right boxes and we missed a couple of steps along the way. So we just want to see that fixed. Obviously, you know, I have my own visions as to what I want to see up there but at the end of the day, it’s not my property.”
The City of Kelowna has not filed a response yet.