A proposed official community plan (OCP) amendment to allow a new apartment building in Cranbrook will go out for public consultation.
City officials said this comes after council gave the first reading to City of Cranbrook Official Community Plan Amendment Bylaw No. 4139, 2024.
The proposal, from Westcor Lands Ltd., involves rezoning a property from medium-density to high-density residential.
City officials said if approved, the property will have three apartment buildings with land set aside for seniors’ housing and a daycare centre.
“We welcome and embrace this kind of development. The high density certainly makes sense to us,” said Mayor Wayne Price. “The more doors we can put onto a section of land, the better.”
Price said the additional use of the property would be beneficial to the community.
“We know there’s certainly a lack of and a demand for daycare,” said Price. “We also see there’s a high demand for seniors’ housing right now.”
City officials said the development will have 331 housing units on almost three hectares of land.
The apartment complex will be located off 30th Avenue with additional access at Panorama Road.
“Staff acknowledge the significant increase in density may have an impact on the surrounding area; however, the location lends itself well to residential development that reduces automobile dependency due to its proximity to commercial corridors and transit routes,” said city officials. “The property is located within 1.2 km of commercial outlets including grocery, hardware, and retail outlet stores, and abuts the Rotary Way multi-use path and the Tamarack #1 bus route.”
The public will be notified when the engagement period officially opens.
“The proposed amendment will be referred to the School District for comment and notice of the proposed amendment will be sent to adjacent land owners/occupiers and advertised in the newspaper,” said city officials.