What do you want to see built on the former Tolko Mill site?

• Pop-ups asked people to share their vision for the area
• Planners want to hear from residents and visitors
• Online resources and surveys are available

Before any shovel breaks ground on a potential development at the former Tolko Mill site, the landowners want to ask Kelowna what they’d like to see.

Pop-up public consultation tables have been set up around Kelowna asking for people’s opinions.

“[The landowners] got a vision to create something special down here,” Mary Lapointe, community relations liaison for Holar Developments, told Kelowna10 outside the Rotary Centre.

“[They want] to turn this property into another sector of the community that really invites people from all over … into a place that’s been well developed, thoughtfully planned, and provides opportunity for all walks of life to spend time in that area.”

Holar Developments is managing redevelopment of the 16-hectare waterfront property located in the North End.

At the pop-up, participants could share their thoughts in a variety of categories, for things like learning, shopping, nature, history, etc. People wrote specifics for those categories on post-it-notes.

Another board at the tables asked people to share what words come to mind when they think of the Okanagan. Some responses included opportunity, nature, friendly.

The third board asked how people want the waterfront portion to make them feel; hardscape vs softscape, and energetic vs calm.

Recreation, culture, and history were among the most popular responses from the community.

This didn’t surprise Lapointe.

“Kelowna is a deep community. It has a lot of deep interest in culture, the arts, the history,” she said.

“We see that it’s a site that has a lot of history in and of itself. I think that history being reflected in what we do going forward makes sense to me.”

The Tolko Mill re-development will play a crucial role in shaping the future of the larger North End. Feedback for the second phase of the North End Neighbourhood Plan, which is a city project, is underway. Phase one began last fall.

While separate, both plans will operate in tandem to help guide future developments.

The goal is to discover people’s priorities in order to present a list of objectives and a vision for the area. The consultants don’t just want the thoughts of people who currently live here.

“Our planners want to get into the heads of, not only the locals, but those who either visit here regularly or once in a while. And also, those who see themselves moving into Kelowna,” Lapointe said.

“This project has a fairly long lifespan. It’s going to serve all kinds of interests.”

More workshops and pop-ups are planned for the coming year. Everyone is encouraged to share their thoughts for the development at kelownamillsite.ca or via a survey from the City of Kelowna.