(Image Credit: Adam Donnelly / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT IN KAMLOOPS

Aberdeen residents seek development tweaks as city plans for neighbourhood expansion

Jul 15, 2020 | 4:43 PM

KAMLOOPS — Tuesday night (July 14), Kamloops council held its first in-person session since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lengthy meeting was dominated by community discussions around a future development space in Aberdeen. One section of the area is up for re-development — Edinburgh Estates — and its approval could make way for further expansion in that part of the city.

Council also voted to approve official community plan amendments related to new park space and a school. While the 9-0 vote from mayor and council was clearly in favour, some members of the Aberdeen community want certain details ironed out.

Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian notes part of why the plan was approved was the potential for over 1,600 new living spaces in the city.

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“That I think is consistent with the [Official Community Plan] and the future direction for Kamloops, where we’re going to see 43 per cent of our new development in the southwest sector.”

With impending population growth in mind, city council agreed to the rezoning application for a section of land near Bentall Drive.

“A 22-lot subdivision in what they’re calling Edinburgh Heights,” says Christian, “and so that will be the start of a series of subdivisions that will grow depending on market demand.”

Aberdeen Neighbourhood Association Chair Randy Sunderman says members aren’t against growing the community but would have liked the consultation process in February to include more than the residents who live in the immediate area near the development site.

Sunderman has made their other concerns clear to the city and says he was somewhat disappointed to see that the plan went forward as is.

“I think another issue that’s really a concern to all residents in Aberdeen is our groundwater issue,” he stressed. “Just about every resident has experienced some type of ground water issue. And here again, we’re putting a large number of homes… every time there’s a new development in Aberdeen, it affects someone lower down.”

On that note, Sunderman says he would like the City to bear in mind the previous problems Aberdeen has had with pipe damage when they’re planning for any future infrastructure installations.

Other concerns the association wants addressed include the impact on wildlife habitats, traffic flow on the existing roadways, highway connectivity and the placement of the new elementary school.

“The more we can make it a livable residential area for all the residents, I think the better off the neighbourhood will be,” says Sunderman, “And I think in the long term, for the developer, it’ll be a more desirable place to buy and have people live.”

Canadian Home Builders Association-Central Interior President Jere Lorenz says there are still plenty of planning approvals to go through over the next several years. But for builders with limited options for lot development, the prospect of a new area to construct homes is a relief.

“So when you have 1,600 units — 800 multi-family units and 800 single family — that’s many years of building. So it’s growth for Kamloops, it’s good for the City of Kamloops, it’s good for our builders, and our association.”

After Tuesday’s council session, Lorenz says those in the construction industry are glad to have a space to depend on for steady work, and provide another choice for where people can live in Kamloops.

“Some people like living in the valley, some people like living up in Juniper, some people like living in Aberdeen, North Shore, downtown, so that (development) gives more a variety now of areas for people to pick and grow their families, and job creation.”