After some debate and concern from residents, a site exception has been made for 3818 – 44th St. to provide a three-unit row house for Habitat for Humanity.
The land was originally zoned R1A and has been rezoned to R1A with a site exception to allow a multi-attached dwelling as a discretionary use.
Senior Planner with the City of Red Deer Jordan Furness said that while the application does intend to intensify the number of dwellings on the site the population in Eastview has declined recently and this is a welcome addition.
“This is a larger than average R1A lot with frontage on 44th Street measuring 22.8 metres while the minimum frontage for these sites is 7.6 metres,” said Furness.
Concerns from residents included parking but Furness said the requirement for this site would be that two parking stalls per unit be provided in the rear of the development.
“The application does allow for plenty of parking including four parking spots in the front in addition to the six at the rear.”
Another concern of residents was the addition of a multi-unit dwelling but both beside and behind the lot in question are two duplexes and there is a fourplex nearby as well.
Furness also said that once the development permit comes through there is potential for front drives for the units which would accommodate further parking.
“The unit is proposed to be two stories high and someone had asked us how this would fit into a community of single storey homes,” said Councillor Dianne Wyntjes.
Furness said that while most of the homes are single storey homes this is not a requirement in the area and that they all could have been developed at two stories and could be redeveloped in the future as such.
“The duplex next door is two stories. When the development permit comes in it will go before municipal planning to make sure that it adds to the community and doesn’t detract from it,” said Furness.
One of the main considerations for approving the lot was the fact that the lot is wider than a standard R1A lot which Furness said is a huge benefit.
“This lot can be done and developed this way without relaxations to items in the land use bylaw,” said Furness.
One concern raised by councillors was the possibility of future applications for multi-unit dwellings in the area.
Furness addressed this issue by saying that this is the first application of its type in the area and that he doesn’t foresee too many others coming in.
Council voted unanimously to rezone the site to allow for a site exception for a multi-unit dwelling.
kpalardy@reddeerexpress.com
