Now that more than five hectares of land have been removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve, the Bentley Road Industrial Park is able to expand.
The park already contains 7.6 hectares and houses some significant Summerland employers.
The expanded properties are on the west side of Bentley Road, between Dickinson Farm and Highway 97.
While the council decisions needed to expand the industrial park had been made earlier this year, the Agricultural Land Commission allowed the removal of the land from the land reserve last week.
The municipality recently completed updates to the Official Community Plan to allow for the expansion and completed a drainage study and a traffic impact assessment.
These steps allow property owners to rezone for industrial uses.
“It is important for the district to have an adequate inventory of industrial land to attract potential businesses to Summerland,” said Mayor Janice Perrino.
One property owner has rezoned a two-hectare parcel to M1-A Industrial which allows uses including automotive repair, high tech research and broadcasting studios.