Plans for a new middle school in the Upper Mission area of Kelowna have been approved by city council.
The Canyon Falls school, which is being built to house 750 students, is expected to be ready for use in time for the 2019 school year.
During council’s discussion about the form and character of the project at its regular meeting Monday, some councillors expressed concern about parking, the drop-off and pick-up areas at the new school and future expansion.
School district planning manager David Widdis said the site on Frost Road in The Ponds neighbourhood is smaller than a typical middle school site and as a result portable classrooms cannot be installed in future to handle more students. As a result, he said the building, which was originally planned to handle 600 students, was expanded in the design stage.
He said if the need for portables arises, changes will be have to be made to the configuration of other schools in the area.
As for parking, Widdis said the parking slated for Canyon Falls Middle School complies with the city’s requirement for school parking, two spaces per classroom.
Because no variances are needed for the project, no public hearing is required for the development permit the school district requires from the city.
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