A pair of bylaws pertaining to driveways and garages underwent first reading at the Penhold council meeting on Jan. 23.
First up was a bylaw that would allow attached garages on narrow lots. Planning and Development Officer Tricia Wells said the bylaw would be used by Melcor Developments in the Oxford Landing development that is being planned.
Because putting in a low density narrow lot with garage district would be a change to the Land Use Bylaw, a public hearing will be held before all three readings are passed.
Wells said right now the only development that it would be used in would be Oxford Landing, but in future other developers might want the option of having narrow lots with attached garages.
Guy Pelletier, a Melcor vice-president for the Red Deer region, told council that having people able to have a smaller lot with an attached garage would accommodate a need for homebuyers who want a garage but can't necessarily afford the larger lots.
"This is something that's in the middle," he said. According to Pelletier, narrow lots with attached garages are common in Edmonton and Calgary and are starting to show up in Red Deer.
Mayor Dennis Cooper asked if there were any concerns that the people on the lots would be backing out onto a collector road.
"We don't identify that as an issue," Pelletier said.
Coun. Danielle Klooster asked if the requirement to have a maximum of 55 per cent of the lot covered would be affected and Wells said 55 per cent would still be the maximum.
Council passed the first reading and scheduled the public hearing for Feb. 27 at 5:30. An open house about the Oxford Landing development in general will be held on Feb. 9 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Penhold Regional Multiplex.
The second bylaw given second reading and scheduled for a public hearing on Feb. 27 has to do with the size of driveways in Penhold.
Wells said while the bylaws call for a maximum width of six metres for residential driveways it turns out most driveways poured are larger than that.
"They're all bigger than six metres," Wells said. Her report explained the problem is being discovered as people are coming in for compliance letters.
"You don't need a permit to build a driveway," Wells said of how the problem developed.
After looking at other municipalities' regulations the staff recommendation was passing a bylaw to amend the LUB so all driveways in Penhold, commercial and residential must be a maximum width of 10 metres.
Driveways on residential lots can only cover a maximum of 50 per cent of a front yard, however, Wells said.
Coun. Chad Hoffman raised the issue of perhaps permitting driveways in future so the problem doesn't come up again.
Wells said making sure driveways comply with town regulations is an enforcement issue but making the change to 10 metres would help the current issue.
"Changing it will help because not every single compliance that comes in won't not comply," she said.
Klooster suggested putting some key points on the town's website for people to reference about the rules. Rick Binnendyk, the town's chief administrative officer, said regulations for things like driveways and fences are being put online.
Council passed the first reading of the bylaw and set the public hearing for Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m.
