A city variance application spurred some impassioned pleas to preserve the uniqueness and character of Harris Street.
Linda Franklin made her case at a city public hearing last Monday for a variance application relating to a lot she owns at 761 Second Ave. NE, or Harris Street as it is otherwise known. Her request was to reduce the minimum parcel width from 14 metres to 12.69 to allow for a three-lot subdivision on the 2,304-square-metre lot.
The variance itself wasn’t so much of a concern to others in attendance at the hearing as was Franklin’s proposal to build three new residences.
Harris Street is home to seven residences of local historical significance identified in the city’s Community Heritage Register, adding to the street’s “special character,” something Franklin acknowledges in a letter to council.
Despite the lot being designated High Density Residential in the city’s official community plan, Franklin states her plan is to preserve the “historical nature” of Harris Street, with three smaller homes “with exteriors keeping with the look of the older homes in the neighbourhood.”
Regardless, concerns were raised at the hearing over the proposed side-by-side layout of the lots, as well as a suggestion by the city staff for two lots up front and one in the back.
For neighbour Gerry Chatelain, owner of what’s referred to in the register as the Collier House, three lots were too many. He suggested two heritage-style homes would be a better fit for the neighbourhood.
But as the subdivision required no rezoning, council had only the variance to approve. They did so, with faith the lots would be developed in respect of the neighbourhood.