Petition to protect Naramata Bench against large development continues to gain signatures

Photo: YouTube, Canadian Horizons

Proposed 320+ unit development on Naramata Bench continuing to see residents upset

A petition to "Preserve and Protect Penticton's Naramata Bench" has close to over 7,700 signatures in support of keeping the community out of development.

Local resident Josie Tyabji started the petition three months ago following a publican consultation about a proposed 320-plus unit development in the hills above Penticton's Naramata Bench.

“This is not an anti-development message by any means, we know that Penticton needs to grow to support the businesses and we know that it's important to have places for people to live,” Tyabji said. 

“The petition was started really to assist the city in understanding people's views and so it was really meant to be a tool to provide information and feedback for the city council and the city, in addition to the official community plan that exists that was done in 2019.”

Pushing to focus on building in the areas that currently have infrastructure, Tyabji would like to see units built in places that have been developed already and still have capacity for growth, with transportation lines already established and proper zoning in place. 

“That's not only smart in terms of the environment and sustainability, but it's also important for the taxpayers, because you know, you don't want to continue to have to service outer areas until you've actually used your capacity.”

Tyabji added that the area has done a “pretty good job of developing into a world class region, and if you go to Napa or you go to Tuscany or you go to any of these world class regions, they're very strategic and very careful about what they put in their wine country areas for a reason. There are neighbourhoods where people live, and they're not right in the middle of wine country.”

She added: "Really that is our front yard, that is what people see when they're driving into Penticton and that is what people see when they look across the valley and look at that bench, and it would forever change the look and feel of that.”

Blake Laven, director of development services for the City of Penticton, estimated that further information on the development won’t be put before council until at least November. Right now, it depends on the development group as “They're making a decision on what they want to do.”

“It's been a little bit quiet the last few weeks since they've done their public consultation, there's been a lot of excitement around it and then they're digesting some of the feedback they've received,” Laven said.

“They're doing some amendments to their plans and responding to a few of our requests are traffic and environmental stuff so I think they got a bit of work left to do before council is going to have an opportunity to consider the project.” 

Currently the petition is continuing to gather information and insight to be ready for when they can have a formal presentation made once it is introduced to council. 

Laven said the city will do a public hearing after the first reading of the bylaw.

“We'll likely do a public information session in between, so we'll likely do first reading of the bylaw and then have a public information session which will have the developers there as well as city staff to answer questions."

While Tyabji thinks the city did a “really good job in 2019 of really vetting the core strategy of Penticton,” she is pushing to keep what makes the area stand out.  

“This is just coming from a place of let's grow strategically, to make sure that we do it well and properly, so we don't don't jeopardize what makes Penticton unique and special."