Secondary suite application sparks wider discussion

The Municipal Planning Commission's approval of a development permit for a secondary suite located at 4918 Shannon Drive last week sparked a wider discussion about the nature of secondary suites and their place in the community.

The issue was sparked by an application from Ken Petersen, a developer from Rancher Homes, to add a secondary suite to an existing dwelling. Petersen told the commission that another application he is planning could bring the total number of secondary suites on that block to three. Petersen said all the proposals are not revenue properties — rather they are mortgage holders adding a suite to their homes to aid with mortgage costs.

Planning staff told the commissioners that parking, size of the suite in question and the number of bedrooms in the application all met the relevant requirements.

Dave Harris, one of the commissioners, said he has no problem with secondary suites per se, but he does take issue with there being potentially three such units on the same block.

“I have no (concern) that this is a quality development. I have a problem with these being side-by-each,” he said.

Prior to the application, the property had been the subject of several unsightly premises complaints, said Larry Wright, the town's director of operations. He said he favoured this application because he thought it would improve on that situation.

“To me, it's a positive (development),” he said.

One neighbouring resident said that while he is in favour of secondary suites in general, he did have an issue with several of them being clustered so close together.

“I'm very concerned that these will not be owner-occupied and will be rental,” he said.

Chairman Wade Bearchell said he was in favour of the development.

“There is a need for these kinds of homes,” he said.

Following the meeting, Bearchell said the discussion around secondary suites is always divisive, but he said both the developer and landowner did a good job of outlining their points.

“(The developer's presentation) was very well done and it actually helped shed some light on a situation that we can only look at on a case-by-case basis. I'm not a big fan of burdening an R-1 subdivision with an overabundance of secondary suite-type things. But this property lends itself to that,” he said.

Bearchell said there are a lot of different opinions on secondary suites.

“There's really no right or wrong answers. In the end, we were satisfied with the developer's plan that aesthetically it's going to be very good,” he said.