OLDS — Town council has voted against a proposal to rezone land in east Olds from country residential to medium density residential, concluding it didn’t fit with the town’s East Olds Area Redevelopment Plan (ARP).
Administrative staff felt the same way, noting in a request for deceision (RFD) that they had received nine letters opposing the proposal.
Several people spoke against it when a public hearing on the matter was held June 24. The proposal received first reading on May 27, thereby setting the stage for the public hearing.
The civic address of the property in question is 5631 - 49th Avenue.
A couple of amending bylaws needed to be passed to make the proposal a reality. Council voted against both after hearing from speakers.
“The applicant is exploring the possibility of subdividing the rear portion of the parcel into a separate property to sell as a development site for medium density residential,” the RFD said.
The RFD noted that a road right of way extending east from 49th Avenue would have to be developed to service the land.
“Initial costs would be at the expense of the developer, but ongoing maintenance of the road and underground utility infrastructure would be a Town (of Olds) expense,” it said.
Administrative staff recommended defeating the proposed amendment for four reasons:
The RFD said there was “insufficient supporting rationale and technical evidence demonstrating how the proposal conforms to the ARP’s vision and objectives, as required by ARP policy 5.1.5.”
It said development of the road right-of-way needed to access the land would “significantly impact the use and enjoyment of neighbouring parcels of land.”
Also, in order to develop the road right of way, several mature trees would have to be removed, which would conflict with the ARP.
Lastly, the RFD said, “the Town (of Olds) does not desire ownership and ongoing maintenance of a minimum of 100 m (metres) of new road and utility infrastructure that would only service one parcel.”
