Kamloops council has enabled three property owners to subdivide their land following lengthy discussions with concerns from neighbors.

Council approved development variance permits for two properties in Brock, at 1844 Fleetwood Avenue and 1768 Parkcrest Avenue, and a third in Barnhartvale, at 7950 Barnhartvale Road.

Speaking on the NL Morning News, councillor Arjun Singh says the city is more focused on infilling core areas. He points out the permit in Barnhartvale will only be allowed if the city ever hooks up municipal water service there, which he says there is no current plan to do so.

“It’s extraordinarily expensive to run water out that far and then operate those things. We have one of the most complicated water distribution systems in the continent as it is. When you look at the cost – we haven’t really looked at it very specifically – but it’s very expensive, generally speaking, to run water way out to all these different spaces.”

Singh says there was a key theme in the concerns from residents who spoke at council about the development variance permits.

“I think yesterday illustrated some of the big debates on urban planning that exist, not only in Kamloops but all over the place. And that really is around densification versus sprawl, in many ways,” he says.

“We’re pretty spoiled in Kamloops because we’ve had this large piece of land to build on over the years, through amalgamation back in the 1970s when these towns came together. So our footprint in the city is quite large.”

However Singh says the new Official Community Plan finished last year calls for more infill in core areas of the city.

And, speaking on the Jeff Andreas Show, mayor Ken Christian says it’s all about densification, and we want to have stronger and larger populations in our downtown cores. But, he says there is still an appetite for single family dwellings and in some cases an acreage.

“I think we want to make sure we are still able to provide those livability options, but we’re not going to be able to service them as affordably as we can when we get people downtown. It’s much better for everything from healthcare to public transit.”

Christian says there was quite a bit of discussion from the public on a large-scale development across the street from Hillside Stadium, including the issue of sidewalks and traffic on McGill Road.

He says that public engagement will continue as that development progresses.

– with files from Jeff Andreas