ALC approves bus yard

by Wayne Moore - Apr 20, 2022 / 4:00 am | from castanet.net

The City of Kelowna can now move forward with plans to build its new regional transit facility after the Agricultural Land Commission voted to remove the lands from the ALR.

The city purchased the 40 acre property just south of UBC Okanagan more than four years ago following discussions with the ALC over its potential use as a regional transit facility.

An application to have the land in question excluded from the Agricultural Land Reserve was approved at the end of March.

The proposal also includes an extension of Hollywood Road.

"The University South Area Structure Plan and the city's Official Community Plan identify significant industrial use on these lands based on historical communication with the ALC," the city stated in its application.

"In 1995 the ALC acknowledged the site to be seriously compromised for long term agricultural use based on the isolation of the property and proximity of the university lands to the north.

It further stated a consultant hired in 2019 confirmed challenges associated with future agricultural use on the property and further outlines mitigation strategies being undertaken by the city to offset the removal of this land from the ALR.

Finding a location for a new transit facility has been a top priority for several years.

The city says the current bus yards at the end of Hardy Street is no longer able to keep up with expansions of service.

In 2019, an anticipated 5,000 service hour expansion was cut by more than 80 per cent due to a lack of capacity at the Hardy Street facility.

The city is hoping to received grant funding to help construct the new bus yards.

In 2019, transit manager Jerry Dombowski told council it was his hope to have a new facility up and running within five years.