A public hearing has been set for March 15 so Crossfield Town council can gather community input concerning a textual amendment to the Town’s land use bylaw meant to more clearly define the terms of a “dwelling, duplex.”
Chief Administrative Officer Ken Bosman told council during its March 1 meeting, the way the current bylaw operates, a semi-detached dwelling – two dwellings side-by-side – could be subdivided into two separate properties.
After subdivision, each property could apply to become a “duplex,” defined in the bylaw as two dwellings with one above and one below, or install a secondary suite in the basement creating what Bosman referred to as a “de facto” fourplex.
“If it walks, talks and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck,” Bosman said. “We have a hole in our bylaw.”
The amendment continues to define a “dwelling, duplex” as a building with two dwellings, one on top of the other, but adds these dwellings each “must have a separate entrance and not (be) attached to any other residential building.”
Bosman said this means if someone is going to build a semi-detached home and then subdivide the land into two lots, they can still have each half on separate land titles, but those halves cannot then turn into a duplexes after the fact.
“You can have an up-down (duplex), but you cannot have another up-down that happens to be attached (to another dwelling),” he said.
The textual amendment goes on to state, “this type of development shall be designated and constructed as two dwellings at the time of initial construction of the building” and does not include a secondary suite.
This change is not meant to take away the possibility of fourplexes being constructed in Crossfield, Bosman said, but rather the intent of the builder be declared upfront so council can properly access the validity of the application for the area it is being proposed in.
Since zoning provisions exist that allow for the construction of fourplexes, he said council has the authority to redesignate, but in doing so it would also require a public input session.
“We obviously want to do our homework before the thing is built to make sure the neighbourhood is protected,” Bosman said. “We’re not saying no to fourplexes (because) there are parts of town where a fourplex might be entirely appropriate.
“We’re just saying be up front about it. We want to (approve an application) in a thoughtful and pre-considered way as opposed to a back door, after the fact, retrofit in an attempt to circumvent, if not the letter, the spirit of the bylaw.”
A public hearing to garner input from residents will be held at 6:30 p.m. on March 15 prior to the council meeting at 7 p.m.
