The Sustainable Downtown Peachland Plan

The District of Peachland wanted to design a neighbourhood plan for the sustainable development of its historic downtown. Its focus was on achieving equitable housing and creating a vibrant local economy that would attract investors, residents and visitors, while also maintaining and enhancing the natural surroundings. Located 25 kilometres south of Kelowna, in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, the district was facing mounting development pressure, greater water-scarcity and forest-fire hazards, and a reliance on a tourist economy that included seasonal population cycles. To tackle this, the Sustainable Downtown Peachland Plan focused on a 13-hectare area and aimed to address sustainability from an integrated systems perspective. It planned to consider a range of themes, including housing, economy, energy, mobility, water, waste, brownfields and biodiversity. In addition to the historic commercial core, the planning area contained the community centre, the District Hall, a proposed seniors’ housing project and residential buildings. The district planned to work with the Design Centre for Sustainability at the University of British Columbia to draft the plan through an innovative “multi-phase charettes process” that included a community open house, a community targets workshop and a design event. The final plan was to include a summary of the planning process, the sustainability framework, a neighbourhood concept plan with associated maps and graphics, and specific strategies and actions for implementation. The plan was expected to provide valuable knowledge for the district and for other communities with variable populations and seasonal economies.