A West 琉璃神社 councillor has suggested School District 23 needs a 鈥榖onk on the head鈥� when it comes to planning for growth in the city.

Doug Findlater shared his concerns during a review of the city鈥檚 Official Community Plan (OCP) at the May 24 council meeting, regarding a comment from SD23 about the need for more school sites.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a little bit odd to me given that we just gave up a school site in Goat鈥檚 Peak,鈥� said Findlater.

He added that in part because of rapid growth in the city and being dwarfed by 琉璃神社, the school district鈥檚 planning has not kept up with West 琉璃神社.

鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing patch jobs like tearing down George Pringle, rebuilding there, and dispersing elementary kids around the city. That reflects a lack of planning to me. We need to bonk the school district on the head to pay attention to what we鈥檙e doing over here.鈥�

Findlater also said the city should continue to press the province to get funding for schools.

Overall, staff told council public and stakeholder feedback on the OCP was positive. Top issues included transportation planning, a range of housing options, as well as more affordable and attainable housing. Some councillors said they hoped the OCP would be ready for adoption by now.

鈥淚鈥檓 not happy, but understanding and certainly accepting of the next steps,鈥� said Councillor Rick de Jong. 鈥淚 wish it could have happened faster coming into October and November. But I can accept this.鈥�

Mayor Gord Milsom indicated he would like to see hard dates from staff for implementation of the OCP.

鈥淟et鈥檚 put some dates on it if we can,鈥� added Milsom. 鈥淟et鈥檚 have a good timeline when we know this is going to be complete.鈥�

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gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
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