Hotel next to Kelowna airport heads to city council for height approval

The Kelowna International Airport’s master plan includes a hotel, but the lodging for weary travellers needs to get past a regulatory hurdle first. The plan for The Sutton Place Hotel is a six-storey building with 195 parking stalls, 245 suites along with space for banquets and a restaurant. The problem is the zoning for the proposed site next to the airport only allows for three-storey buildings. City staff is presenting a report to city council at a meeting Tuesday, Nov. 5, that recommends the hotel be allowed to have six floors. Staff said the extra three floors are “required for hotel functionality.” “The height restrictions for non-airport uses in the CD12 zone aim to avoid interference with airport operations; however, the hotel has received preliminary approval from the necessary authorities,” staff said in the report for council. READ MORE: Kelowna airport spending $422M to catch up and keep up with air travel demand https://infotel.ca/newsitem/kelowna-airport-spending-422m-to-catch-up-and-keep-up-with-air-travel-demand/it106362 The hotel is part of the airport’s work to be prepared for a growing number of travellers coming through its terminals. The hotel also has to go through council on Tuesday to get permission for a bigger sign. City council will even be presented with the number of trees to be planted around the hotel. There will be 41 trees and 11 of them are going to be large. Staff said it plans on reworking the signage bylaw. “Staff are currently working on revising the Sign Bylaw, which will address some of the concerns with signage in comprehensive development zones,” staff said in the report. The airport selected Northland Properties https://northland.ca/ to be the hotel’s operator. Northland owns Revelstoke Mountain Resort, and hotels in five countries.  To contact a reporter for this story, email Jesse Tomas mailto:jtomas@infonews.ca  or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. Find our Journalism Ethics policy here. https://infotel.ca/newsitem/code-of-ethics/it106782 We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .