Airdrie City council formally approved a new Land Use Bylaw (LUB) at its June 6 meeting, however, the section of the new document dealing with secondary suites is still confusing for some residents, including Nancy Kelln.
“My concern is that the areas that I own property in – Silver Creek and Channelside – they’re changing the zoning,” she said. “I paid a premium to have a lot that was already designated to have a suite and they’re just changing the zoning of those lots without notifying the homeowners.”
Kelln said she contacted the City’s Planning department but has not been able to get her questions answered, concerning what the zoning change will mean to the value of her lots, whether she’ll have to get her suites re-inspected and if her suites will meet the new rules – one of which has less than the 43 foot frontage required in the new bylaw for any lot having a secondary suite.
“I have real property reports that show the suites on them and say that they comply with all the City of Airdrie bylaws and I don’t know now if they won’t,” she said. “My one property is 46 feet frontage so I know it will comply as far as frontage is involved but the other is only 40 (feet).”
Councillor Ron Chapman also voiced his confusion about the frontage requirements for lots with secondary suites at the June 6 meeting.
“How does that work with pie-shaped lots? Is it looked at on a per-application basis?” he asked.
According to Senior Planner Stephen Utz, the bylaw includes information about how the lots are measured.
“On a typical lot, it’s measured at the mid-point on the property,” he said. “With respect to a pie lot, it’s measured eight metres in from the front property line for a front pie lot, and eight metres in from the rear property line on a reverse pie lot.”
Kelln said she was told by the planning department to come to the June 6 meeting and even sent a letter to council voicing her concerns. When she tried to speak during Public Question Period she was informed by Mayor Peter Brown that her concerns had been received and considered.
“I phoned Planning and all the guy said that I talked to there was to come to the council meeting to voice my concerns and when I tried, they told me to be quiet,” she said. “I can’t get any answers.”
William Czaban, planner with the City, said the re-zoning would have no impact on Kelln’s property value or her ability to have secondary suites on her properties.
“There’s effectively no changes that have been made to her property,” he said. “She was allowed to have a suite under the old Land Use Bylaw, because she was one of the lucky few that had a district that allowed for that. We’ve opened up the door and granted those land use rights to other properties in Airdrie. We’ve taken nothing away from her.”
According to Wilf Richter, team leader for the Planning department, Kelln will not need to have her suites re-assessed, either.
Kelln said she still has questions about the re-zoning of her lots and will keep trying to get answers from the planning department.
“(Changes to the LUB) will affect everybody who has property in those neighbourhoods. What about the loss of value?” she said. “We paid extra for these lots and they were sold at a premium. There is a value that, that lot used to hold just with that special (zoning) designation. That’s gone.”
