The owner of a property at the corner of 18th Street and 11th Avenue NE has applied for a rezoning with the intention of creating a development with 30 housing units.
Owner Kelly Guenther would like to rezone the one-hectare property at 1141 18th St. NE from R1, single family dwelling, to R4, medium density residential. It sits just west of the RCMP detachment and north of the Trans-Canada Highway. Just one home is now situated on the property.
“Although not technically required at this rezoning stage, a development concept showing 30 units has been provided…” states the city’s planning department report, noting the applicant is not required to stick with the proposed concept at this stage. Up to 40 units would be permitted under the new zoning.
Guenther spoke at the city’s May 4 planning meeting, describing the concept. He said there would be 17 townhomes, all facing the lake with beautiful views. He said the other single family units would probably be a mix of duplexes and triplexes.
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Asked by Coun. Sylvia Lindgren about units for families, he said the majority would be either two bedroom with a den or some will be three bedroom.
“But they’re really designed to be sort of 55-plus. A lot of them are going to be no stairs, entry level. I wasn’t really thinking we were going to gauge it towards families, but certainly, some of the three-bedroom townhomes could be used for families with no problem.”
Although council was unanimously in support of the development, the possibility of accommodating a bike trail or a link to the city’s Greenways network was brought up by Couns. Tim Lavery and Chad Eliason, and discussed by council.
Eliason suggested that the applicant talk to city staff about greenways and right-of-ways before the public hearing is held on May 25.
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