Image: District of Hope / Hope City Council (pictured) will hold a public hearing Monday night, September 25 to rezone property that is being eyed for up to 54 units of housing south of downtown, including the possible construction of a four-storey, 42-unit condominium building. Tonight's public hearing at 6:30 p.m. includes agenda items that ask Hope City Council to approve amendments to the Official Community Plan by redesignating property at 455 Coquihalla Street from urban/suburban residential to comprehensive development, which would facilitate the mixed-use residential development of a 54-unit apartment and townhouse complex. The proposed development has generated several letters of intense opposition from nearby residents. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

District of Hope

Plan to rezone property for 4-storey, 54-unit building near downtown Hope draws opposition

Sep 25, 2023 | 11:38 AM

HOPE — The District of Hope will hold a public hearing Monday night, Sept. 25 to rezone property that is being eyed for up to 54 units of housing south of downtown, including the possible construction of a four-storey, 42-unit condominium building.

Tonight’s public hearing at 6:30 p.m. includes agenda items that ask Hope City Council to approve amendments to the Official Community Plan by redesignating property at 455 Coquihalla Street from urban/suburban residential to comprehensive development, which would facilitate the mixed-use residential development of a 54-unit apartment and townhouse complex.

According to BC Assessment records, the 1.23-acre property at 455 Coquihalla Street was purchased in April 2022 for $2,550,000.

The proposed bylaw amendment to the Official Community Plan drew several letters of opposition. According to documents attached to the bylaw amendment and rezoning application on the district’s website, a lifelong Hope resident who lives on 5th Avenue wrote that the proposed development is incompatible with the nature of the downtown core.

Image: Google Maps / The property of 455 Coquihalla Street is pictured in the above image. The 1.23-acre parcel of land is being eyed for a mixed-use apartment and townhouse development of up to 54 units, but the proposed development has drawn several letters of opposition from nearby residents who say it’s too big and is not compatible with the surrounding neighbourhood of single-storey and two-storey homes.

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“In the past several years I have witnessed several single-level, single-family homes being torn down in the name of ‘progress’ and replaced with massive multi-level homes, built with no yards or regard for the integrity of the surrounding neighbourhood or neighbour,” Bonny Graham wrote in her email to the district. “I ask that this development be stopped in its tracks and ask that plans such as these and other monstrous home developments in Hope’s downtown residential core be stopped and deeply considered on application to prevent the destruction of what makes our town unique in its historic community spanning generations.”

Another resident, Serina Dillon, wrote that the neighbourhood largely consists of single and two-storey properties. Police, fire and schools would be adversely impacted by the development, Dillon said.

“Four-storey buildings of 54 new homes is entirely out of keeping with the neighbourhood,” Dillon said. “Homes will be overshadowed, privacy will be lost and traffic will become a nightmare. Please, consider the character of the area, the loss of safety, privacy and the strain on public resources. Keep the norm of two-storey buildings and limit the impact of multiple new vehicles to the area.”