Meeting the challenges of being the major city in one of Canada害羞草研究所檚 fastest growing metropolitan areas is no easy job.
But Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran says he believes his city has proven it is up to the task and, in the in the first two years of his council害羞草研究所檚 current four-year mandate, has made strides in a number of different areas directly affected by growth.
And, the former councillor and first-term mayor says the city does not plan to ease up in the second half of council害羞草研究所檚 term either.
害羞草研究所満π卟菅芯克鶞Continued growth over this time tells me that, as a city, we are managing to create a place that meets the economic and lifestyle needs that people from diverse backgrounds are looking for,害羞草研究所� said Basran after delivering his third State of the City address to the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce Wednesday.
害羞草研究所淲e are a growing city 害羞草研究所� and that害羞草研究所檚 good 害羞草研究所� but growth and change are not without their challenges.害羞草研究所�
Earlier this week Statistics Canada said the metropolitan Kelowna area was the sixth fastest growing metropolitan area in Canada between 2011 and 2016.
In his speech, Basran pointed to many of the ways the city is dealing with some of the adverse consequences of growth害羞草研究所攔ising house prices, lower vacancy rates, an increase in homelessness and the challenge of stopping urban sprawl.
Calling the hiring the city害羞草研究所檚 first social issues manager one of the highlights for him of his first two years in the mayor害羞草研究所檚 chair, Basran pointed to the many partnerships the city has entered into to help deal with issue of homelessness and housing.
A joint effort with the Gospel Mission and B.C. Housing saw the creation of a pilot project to provide safe storage areas at the Mission for people on the street, a move that he said has helped seven people get into transitional housing so far and led a host of others to contact services available to help them.
Other partnerships with B.C. Housing and local groups have resulted in several subsidized housing developments containing more than one thousand units in recent years.
Basran said with the city providing land as it害羞草研究所檚 contribution to several projects, it can help create much needed housing, especially for those in need.
When it comes to more-affordable housing, more than 1,000 units of rental housing are currently under development in the city and another 1,070 are planned for 2017 and 2018. The city has not seen that level of rental housing built in many years.
The growth害羞草研究所攁n estimated increase of 8,000 people over the last five years害羞草研究所攁lso provides opportunities for the city, said the mayor, including making public transit more viable, justifying investments in multi-use transportation corridors and helping make the city safer with more people in areas like downtown. And it has prompted a built-up-not-out approach at city hall.
害羞草研究所淭hat is why we want to try and densify some of the neighbourhoods we already have,害羞草研究所� he said.
But the first two years of the current council mandate has not been totally smooth sailing. While he did not mention the controversy over council害羞草研究所檚 recent decision to rezone land on the downtown lakeshore for a new visitors害羞草研究所� centre or earlier protests about the city害羞草研究所檚 original plan for Cedar Creek Park in the Pandosy area, he did touch on the city害羞草研究所檚 controversial 害羞草研究所渟idewalk sleeping ban,害羞草研究所� noting only one ticket has been issued as a result of it.
The ban brought hundreds out into the streets to protest in December.
Overall, Basran said the city is doing well, meeting the objectives of the priorities council set early in its mandate and helping the economy grow while keeping property taxes in the bottom third of the municipalities in B.C. with a population over 75,000.
