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Proposed rental development on Shuswap Street in Salmon Arm hits speed bumps

Owner wishes to have four requirements waived, council looks to see if compromises possible
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A proposal at Salmon Arm council’s Feb. 21 planning meeting would see two units added to an existing fourplex at 1120 Shuswap St. SE along with an additional four-unit building. (City of Salmon Arm image)

A proposal to add six rental units to an existing four on Shuswap Street in Salmon Arm has come up against complications.

Jordan Grieve, a director of the numbered company which owns the property, wishes to add two units to an existing four-plex at 1120 Shuswap SE, as well as add a new four-unit building on the 1,930 square metre (0.5 acre) parcel.

He has requested four variances from the city: waive the requirement to install street lights along the property’s frontage, waive the requirement to widen and construct a three-metre-wide multi-use path along the frontage; waive the requirement to place existing hydro and telecommunications underground; and increase the number of permitted accesses from one to two. The cost of the servicing requirements would be an estimated $116,000.

City planning staff did not support the variances, noting that waiving the requirements would place an additional future financial burden on the city or increase costs for future developers of adjacent properties.

Grieve told the city’s Feb. 21 planning and development services meeting that his company has been working on the development for almost two years and has already spent $27,000 on such things as site drawings and engineering drawings.

“It’s a fairly staggering number to get to a point to find out if a project is even feasible,” he said, adding that drawings would have to be redone and the site plan is limited.

He said he previously received a letter from a former planning staff member in support of having two accesses for the development.

Grieve noted the plan exceeds the required number of 15 parking stalls and the company is willing to have a covenant on title which would ensure the housing remains as rental units.

Read more: Three roundabouts on the horizon for Salmon Arm

A staff engineering report that opposed the variances stated Shuswap Street is a busy arterial street and many properties along it have development potential. In addition, when Auto Road eventually connects with 14 Avenue SE, the traffic impact will be increased further.

While council members expressed support for staff’s position, some said they might be open to compromises. Those could possibly include cash in lieu for a future multi-use pathway, perhaps allowing two accesses if they were one direction only, or possibly finding an alternative regarding the street light requirements.

Council members also referred to the importance of rental units in the city.

Some wished to see the letter from the former staff member.

The proposal was forwarded unanimously to council’s Feb. 27 evening meeting, when council will vote after having had time to further consider the variance requests.

Mayor Alan Harrison emphasized that any decisions made won’t come from staff, but from council.

“I think we all want to make it happen…”

Read more: City politicians appreciate intention to save older-growth trees, also having rentals near downtown

Read more: Shuswap Street in Salmon Arm gets long-awaited sidewalk replacement



martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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