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The land in the Commonage area where Kerkhoff Develop Build had proposed building a 3,500 home neighbourhood. (Image Credit: Kerkhoff Develop Build / Facebook)
Plan Needs Revising

Developer of Commonage property going back to the drawing board

Jun 2, 2026 | 12:39 PM

The company that had a proposal rejected for a major housing development in Vernon’s hillside is still looking at ways to build the property.

The developer, Kerkhoff Develop-Build, had planned to construct a neighbourhood of over 3,500 housing units, 40 per cent of which would be attainably priced, at the site in the Commonage area. The housing unit totals and sizes had been reduced from the initial proposal following public consultation and hearing complaints from residents, and the company also committed to covering infrastructure costs to deliver water service to the site, as well as provide park space and protections for the more environmentally sensitive areas.

Despite these changes, at a special meeting Monday, June 2, Vernon city council voted four to three to oppose giving second reading for an Official Community Plan amendment. It also meant the matter would not be brought forward for a public hearing where the developer and staff could address questions and issues raised by residents.

In a written statement, the company said it did not expect city council to refuse the application, and was disappointed with the decision.

“The vote result means our proposal for attainable homes and protection of the lands will not proceed,” the developer stated.

“The most troubling aspect of [the] decision is that council prevented this application from advancing to a public hearing. Denying the community its right to be heard on a project of this significance is unacceptable. It also denied us the opportunity to address, in an open and public forum, the considerable misinformation that has circulated about this application.

It is also important to remember that this land is private property. That means the protections proposed through our application would have been the mechanism to change that and conserve almost two-thirds of the property from development in perpetuity.

The result is that valuable land will not receive the protections proposed, and the attainable homes our community urgently needs will not be built. Our goal throughout has been to find a market based solution to the housing crisis, which required compromise on all sides. We were prepared to make that compromise. Council was not prepared to let the process run its course.”

Kerkhoff Develop-Build said it would go back to the drawing board and redesign the proposed development so it would align with the property’s existing zoning. A timeline for when that would be done and brought before city council again was not provided.

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