City council has approved a 40-storey tower to be built on St. Paul Street, just north of the 43-storey UBC Okanagan high-rise under construction on Doyle Avenue.

The decision faced opposition from Councillors Ron Cannan, Charlie Hodge, and Gord Lovegrove, who voted against moving the project forward.

"I don't know why it's a race to the top here," Lovegrove said at council's meeting on Monday (Nov. 25). "We've had citizens telling us time and time again, too much, too high."

The building will include 384 rental-only units. However, Cannan said he did not see any affordability aspect in the project. "At least if we had 20 per cent below market or something... there's nothing mentioned in the application, so I can't support it."

Hodge expressed that he liked the project but thought it was too close to the UBCO tower. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for the work the applicant has done on this project... but I can't support it. I think it's overkill," he said.

Councillor Mohini Singh also mentioned hearing public concerns about high-rise buildings in the city.

"It does make me nervous to see another high-rise go up so close to the UBC tower. Then again, it's being built to serve a need in the downtown core," she said, referring to the need for rental accommodations. "Honestly, we have no room, so where do we go? We have to go up."

Staff told the council that area of St. Paul allows for taller buildings under the Official Community Plan. They explained that if the building were shorter than its planned 117-metre height, it would create an awkward transition with the 150-metre UBCO tower.

Councillor Luke Stack spoke in favour of the project. He noted that the developer was not asking for any variances. "I'm impressed that they've been able to bring a building of this size before us without a single variance. That's amazing. We can hardly get a duplex put before council without a variance," he said.

Councillor Loyal Wooldridge also supported the project, stating that council needs to stick to planning policies. "If we want to debate that... we need to debate it around the table," he said. "It's not fair to the applicants to have these discussions around personal opinions."

Concerns were raised about potential damage to surrounding buildings during the excavation of the St. Paul site. However, staff informed council that the parkade for the structure will be above ground, requiring only a 30-centimetre foundation and deep pile driving. These will be assessed through the building permit process.

After construction began on the UBCO tower, which originally planned a four-storey underground parkade, several buildings around the site sustained damage, including severe cracking. Many buildings were deemed uninhabitable, including Hadgraft Wilson Place where dozens of residents have not been able to return home.