Some Kelowna, B.C. residents concerned with proposed site for new gurdwara – Okanagan | 24CA News
Kelowna’s Gurdwara Guru Amardas Darbar Sikh Society is hoping to construct a brand new temple on Benvoulin Road, as they’ve grown too giant for his or her present place of worship.
However, some residents close to the proposed web site have raised considerations about what’s going to occur to their neighbourhood.
The Sikh society introduced the proposal to metropolis council on April 24 to rezone the present agricultural land at 2809 Benvoulin Road.
Council voted in favour 8 to 1 of shifting it to a public listening to, with some councillors saying the brand new temple will present agricultural and non secular alternatives.
“This congregation of farmers farm over 2,000 acres of land in the central Okanagan and they are in dire need of a new facility. It meets the spiritual needs of our farming community,” mentioned metropolis councillor Mohini Singh on the Apr. 24 council assembly.
However, residents on this neighbourhood close to the proposed land have blended emotions.
They really feel as if it would flip their quiet neighborhood right into a busy one, with a lot of site visitors.
“The congestion would result in coming down a narrow road for access to the facility and the access off of Benvoulin Road onto Fisher Road and vice-versa. It’d be very difficult; it takes a long time to get out of there sometimes,” mentioned close by resident Terry Robertson.
The Sikh society and Urban Options, the corporate working with the society, say they visited the neighborhood for suggestions and talked to 60 per cent of the individuals who stay there.
The teams don’t imagine the place of worship might be a nuisance to residents each day.
“Obviously the main day for worship is on a Sunday. So that would be the day that we would see the most traffic to the site and any of the festivals many of us have gone to,” mentioned Birte Decloux with Urban Options on April 24.
Residents say their neighbourhood was designated a traffic-calmed neighborhood by the town and permitting the temple to be constructed right here will go towards that.
“Almost ironic that the city would be considering putting in a facility like this and increasing the traffic so much,” Robertson mentioned.
“There are signs up there now and the speed bumps to slow the traffic down because there was so much traffic to warrant the traffic calming.”
Robertson says they garnered 151 signatures from folks within the neighbourhood and they are going to be presenting that to council on the public listening to.
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