By ROY WOOD

Initial approval has been granted for a 19-home subdivision near the top of the Dividend Ridge development on the Osoyoos West Bench.

Sawgrass at Dividend Ridge will fill one of the last parcels in the hillside neighborhood immediately south of the Osoyoos Golf Club.

It proposes eight duplexes and three single-family homes on a rocky hilltop with a spectacular view of the town and the lake. Council this afternoon gave the first two readings to the zoning amendment that would allow duplexes on the triangular-shaped piece at the south foot of Sawgrass Drive.

According to a report from planning director Gina MacKay, “The property is located at the top of Dividend Ridge subdivision. The property consists of a number of remainder parcels. These …parcels are the remnants of the Dividend Ridge development.”

The new subdivision would include single-family homes on each of three lots and an eight-duplex strata development on the larger piece.

In an interview, MacKay said she doesn’t know if the subdivision will require blasting of the bedrock. But, she said, the applicants have provided geo-technical data indicating the land is “safe for the proposed use.”

Mayor asked MacKay whether there would eventually be even more development behind the proposed subdivision. MacKay responded that the land beyond the property line is Crown land that is in the proposed National Park reserve plan.

The proposal will go to public hearing on June 17 following the regular council meeting.