Concerns dominate re-designation discussion on Waddy Lane

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Lack of parking stalls, inadequate water pressure, and traffic congestion concerns on Waddy Lane overshadowed a re-designation request for a future three-storey, 12-unit apartment building on Dec. 16.
The property, 303 Waddy Lane, is currently zoned R1 – single detached residential district – not appropriate for the proposed project. The town’s planning and development department therefore requested the parcel to be re-designated to R3 – medium density modest residential district – a new land use district approved by council in November to bridge the gap between lower density district and the R3 district, which allows four-storey apartment buildings.
“I don’t have a problem rezoning, because that’s a given with the downtown overlay and what we expect,” said Councillor Denise Peterson.
“One of the things that concerns me is relevant to the water, storm water, and sewer in this area. I know you said the application wouldn’t come forward until 2016, [but] we don’t have any guarantee of that and we know in the past that’s been an ongoing concern. That’s the kind of information I would need, and the assurance I would need, in order to make a bylaw amendment of this nature.”
Waddy Lane had come before council numerous times in the past in relation to low water pressure and traffic concerns. The water and sanitary sewer services in Waddy Lane from 2nd Street to Wheatland Trail are planned to be replaced in 2016, along with consideration for storm water servicing. The project will require digging up the street, replacing services, and repaving the road. Yet during the Dec. 16 public hearing, residents spoke out about their issues surrounding parking and the narrow unpaved alleyway. While the project only requires 12 parking stalls, one per unit, under the Land Use Bylaw, neighbours to the proposed complex argue that most residents in the area own two cars and the streets are already congested. Council was also presented with photographs of vehicles covered in snow that residents said are only used in the summer time and are parked on the street for the winter duration. Residents were also concerned with the height of the building and privacy, increased traffic to the back lane that remains unpaved, and water and sewer. While Councillor Bob Sobol reminded council that the intent of the request was for re-designation of the land, he also expressed his concern with the ongoing issues.
“I’m extremely concerned about that laneway, and we have a lot of traffic in there now it sounds like, and we’re going to have a lot more traffic and that’s not a paved road,” he said.
“The difficulty in bringing in a proposal for potential development is we really have no idea what this is going to look like when we get to the development permit stage. This is not a development permit application. This is a Land Use change, so I’ll be very honest with you, I have some concerns about the driveway, the laneway in the back, and that right now is my main concern. But that’s really irrelevant to this application. This application is simply for land use amendments. So I guess be warned that when development permit does come, I for one am going to have some serious questions about access to the back of that development.”
Sobol added that a similar issue had come to council previously and an agreement resulted with the developer paving the section.
Staff assured council that issues related to servicing and design issues will be considered during the development process. The matter will also need to be reviewed by the Downtown Design Review Committee.
Council approved the request to re-designate 303 Waddy Lane to an R3M district from R1. Councillor Pat Fule and Councillor Rocky Blokland were absent during the regular council meeting on Dec. 16.