Olds council gave first reading to a bylaw that would make way for an affordable housing unit on 48 Street at 52 Avenue, at a meeting on April 14.According to the bylaw, 5137 48 St. would be re-designated as a medium density residential district.This would allow the 557-square-metre property to be converted from a single-detached dwelling into a fourplex.The proposal was made by Heather Baker on behalf of the property owner, who wrote in a letter that the move would meet the town's need for higher density housing in an area close to existing and future businesses, specifically the uptowne commercial area.“The applicant is also creating more pedestrian retail traffic, updating water and sewer services and adding to the tax base,” said Kari Idland, the town's municipal planning intern, quoting the letter to council.The four proposed units would be about 46 square metres each, a size questionable to some councillors.“I've been in an 800-square-foot apartment and found that you could reach out and touch just about anybody in that room,” Coun. Wade Bearchell said. “I sort of wondered if that's an acceptable size.”Furthermore, Coun. Mary Jane Harper questioned whether the small units matched future plans for the neighbourhood.“I would have concern that there would be a great concentration of very tiny accommodation units along the same block that … could become a very vibrant commercial core,” Harper said.She said she was willing to support first reading of the bylaw but added, “those are very tiny units.”The public will get a chance to voice its opinion at a hearing on May 12 in council [email protected]
