Council approves re-designation for the Ranch
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
United Communities, developer of the Ranch, submitted an application to Town council to re-designate phases 5 and 7 from R1 (residential single detached district) to R1N (residential narrow lot single family district).
“I have a lot of worries and a lot of concerns when people have bought their homes expecting one thing, and then there’s a change to it where it goes from R1 to R1N,” said Councillor Pat Fule.
The change in the land use designation will see an increase from 85 homes to 101 homes. Lot widths in the R1N district range from 40 feet to 48 feet. These issues are usually dealt with at the subdivision phase, but were added to the application to provide additional information. The site has sat undeveloped for a number of years, and there have been a number of issues regarding dust and weeds. A variety of different remedies have been used to try to control the situation, but there has not been an ultimate solution at this point.
Paul Douglas from United Communities made a presentation before council and residents outlining their request for re-designation.
“There is minimum 10 metre wide green space area that could or could not have a path in it,” said Douglas, addressing one of residents concerns.
Having a pathway is a decision to be made by the town. Douglas said the path would widen out in some areas and be more than the 10 metres. They are not changing the minimum side yard, which works out to five feet.
“The closest any house could be to the next house, would be 10 feet, which is no less than is currently the case,” said Douglas.
They are going to put a temporary gravel parking area in so that people have a spot to access the soccer field, which he said is a part of the plan for the year.
Isabel Arsenault lives behind a pile of dirt in the area. She said the noise is one of the biggest issues she has, on top of the dust. She wanted to know if they have an end date in mind. Douglas said they are looking at five years, but they are hoping to finish sooner. It has already been four years that residents have had to deal with the dust, noise and other issues.
“10 years of construction, 10 years of my life that’s going to hear your trucks,” said Arsenault.
She has been trying to sell her home for a while now and feels she is not selling because prospective buyers can see the work being done out back. She said she has lost approximately $60,000 off the value of her home. Arsenault asked if they could put up a sound wall to help cut out some of the noise. Mayor Steve Grajczyk pointed out that everybody has lost money on his or her homes since the economic downturn. He said asking for a sound wall is economically impossible and while there are many things residents can ask for there are times when it is asking too much.
“We all want it to sell fast, everybody would like them to get in and get out of here in two years, but we can’t make that happen if the people aren’t there to buy it,” said Grajczyk.
“That’s just the way life is. They are not stalling because they want to be here. They’d like to get up and get going and move on to another subdivision. There are things that are just out of our control is what I’m saying.”
He would like to see the dust dealt with, and United Communities has promised to make a commitment to try to do just that. Grajczyk said he doesn’t feel it will digress the neighbourhood and said it meets the guidelines of the Municipal Development Plan, MDP. The bylaw was passed at the March 2 regular council meeting.