Plans to build townhomes on the site containing the historic Cadder House are not sitting well with a group of Kelowna residents.
Necessary Homes Ltd. wants to build two fourplexes on the property at 2124 Pandosy Street.
The Kelowna South Central Association of Neighbourhoods (KSAN) is against the project.
“The Abbott Heritage Conservation Area (AHCA) was legally designated in the 90s, by the Local Government Act,” the group states in a letter to the media. “Everyone needs to play by the rules which have been established by our elected officials and hired staff, for the taxpayer.”
The letter claims that fourplexes are not allowed in the AHCA.
An application to the city proposes tearing down a coach house, built in the 1990s, on the property to make way for the two fourplexes.
The KSAN letter also states many heritage homes in the area have individual signs describing early community leaders who lived there.
“It attracts residents and tourists alike. Some people have described it as Kelowna’s jewel.”
Cadder House was built in 1908 for Thomas Willing Stirling who was prominent in the tree-fruit industry and a president of the BC Fruit Growers’ Association.
Over the decades the house was owned by BC Growers founder Byron McDonald and also served as a nurses’ residence, senior citizens, and a psychiatric facility called Oak Lodge.
Cadder House is currently home to seven owned and rented suites.
A heritage consultant report, done by ANCE Building Services, calls Necessary Homes’ proposal a good model of conservation and evolution.
“Although the introduction of townhomes may be perceived as too bold or dense to some, it aligns with heritage values of the property, its development history and follows the national standard for additions to historic places.”
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