A two-storey semi detached residence with an attached garage will be built in Crossfield on Osler Avenue, following a Nov. 4 decision by council to accept amendments to the Land Use Bylaw.
Crossfield council held a public hearing for the amendment prior to the regular meeting on Nov. 4, where they unanimously voted to accept the amendments.
The amendment redesignates the lot at 1213 Osler Avenue from a single detached small lot district (R1C) to residential two dwelling district (R2).
Six members of the community were in attendance at the public hearing portion of the meeting, which included property owner Brett Barclay, his wife Shelley and son Dallas who were in favour of the proposal.
Residents Chris Winslow, Ray Winslow and Robert Copley spoke against the proposal. Each speaker had five minutes to present information.
Barclay said he would like to tear down the existing building at the site and build a two-storey semi detached dwelling with attached garage.
Chris Winslow said his greatest concern was for public parking.
“There’s a small amount of street space there. I know there is not a lot of parking on the road. It would add to it substantially having a duplex,” he said.
“It is a high-density neighbourhood already with the mobile home park and with The Lodge there and it’s going to be a more attractive building than what exists there presently,” Barclay added.
The minimum lot requirements are 100 feet in depth and 40 feet in width for laned parcels. The Osler Avenue lot has a depth of 116 feet and a width of 50 feet.
“I see the necessity for more affordable housing in the area or higher density at some of the areas in town. At the same time parking on the street is a challenge. It’s not something that I would like to see more of,” said Feltham.
Mayor Nathan Anderson said though the concerns raised are valid, they did not speak to the issue at hand.
“Our parking bylaws we are concerned about those on a whole, but I don’t think it would be fair to say to these folks that you can’t do this based on our laws. We can’t interject our opinion on whether we think an apartment is adequate or inadequate,” he said.
“We’d have to go visit our bylaws to determine if our bylaws are adequate, rather than determine parking on a case-by-case basis,” Anderson added.
Anderson said, though council does have a right to reject zoning applications, “we also can’t hold up an application because of laws that aren’t in place if you were against this based on our desire to change a law.”
Council had a second and third reading of the motion during the meeting and it was passed unanimously.
