Downtown Penticton could soon be home to a new five-storey apartment building.
City council approved a development permit Tuesday, Feb. 20, for a proposed 48-unit rental building at 286 Rigsby Street, between Westminster Avenue and Wade Avenue.
The development calls for a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, with a total of 39 parking spaces.
Penticton Mayor Julius Bloomfield voted in favour of the development permit but was quick to note his concerns over the lack of storage space in each proposed unit.
“There’s no storage facilities in this building or any storage locker for any of the units,” Bloomfield said. “If I’m living there, I’m going to be thinking, ‘Where am I going to put my winter tires, where I am going to put my skies, Christmas decorations?’ That to me is a shortfall.”
The first-term mayor presented a motion later in the meeting to address his concern, asking staff to incorporate provisions for storage units into the “ongoing [Official Community Plan] and zoning bylaw updates.”
“We have guidelines for parking, for bike parking for amenity areas…oddly enough, there is no guideline for storage spaces and storage units.”
The mayor’s motion was defeated after councillors Isaac Gilbert, Ryan Graham, Helena Konanz and Campbell Watt voted against it.
“I think this is getting too prescriptive for development,” Gilbert stated.
The property on Rigsby Street, meanwhile, contains a warehouse that was built in 1949. The proposed apartment endorsed by council is designed to “accommodate families, couples and individuals,” a letter of intent submitted to the city reads.
Every unit will have a private balcony.
“It’s a lovely building,” Bloomfield said, before sharing his storage-space concerns. “No complaints about the building and we’re heading in the right direction with step code, electric [vehicle] parking, plug-ins and bike racks.”
The building will feature a total of 31 bicycle parking spaces and 21 ready-to-use EV chargers.
