A public hearing on a controversial development will not occur until well into the fall.
Linda Tynan, Summerland’s chief administrative officer, said the earliest possible date for the hearing will be the end of October.
“There’s a lot of work that still needs to be done on the engineering side of this,” she said.
The proposal, first introduced to the public in November, 2016, is for a seniors housing facility to be built on a privately owned property on Banks Crescent.
At present, the privately owned land is being used as an orchard, but it is not in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
The iCasa development is being proposed by the Lark Group. Initially, the development was to have 380 suites to allow seniors to age in place. In July, the details changed and the plan now calls for 424 units.
Tynan said the engineering work required includes examining the implications of the proposed development on the municipality’s electrical service, other infrastructure and road.
The engineering reports will also help council to determine which items the developer is responsible to provide and which are the municipality’s responsibility.
In addition, questions have been raised about the slope stability at the property.
Tynan said a geotechnical report has answered those questions, and municipal staff are reviewing a report from a geotech firm.
While the process has been going on for many months, Tynan said developments of this nature normally require plenty of time.
In addition, the nature of the development, in the Comprehensive Development Zone, adds to the timeline.
“It’s a complex process because the zoning and the building are held together in the Comprehensive Development Zone,” she said.
As the process has been taking place, a group of Summerland residents have been speaking out against the proposed development.
Members of Summerlanders for Sensible Development have raised questions about the location of the development. In addition, members of the group have been circulating a petition in opposition to the project. This petition now has more than 3,000 names.
Tynan said the opposition, including the petition, is part of the public process. However, she and members of council have called for decorum from those addressing this issue.