SUNDRE – Amendments to the municipality’s land use bylaw described by administration largely as housekeeping items to improve definitions and provide clarity, outline updated parking requirements for new apartments as well as new regulations pertaining to the storage of RVs in residential districts.
Betty Ann Fountain, senior development officer, told council on June 26 during the last regular meeting before the summer hiatus, that municipalities are all mandated by the provincial government to have land use bylaws, which are essentially living documents used by planning and development departments to regulate developments in different zoning districts.
To facilitate that process, providing all applicants with concise and consistent information is important, Fountain said.
“The proposed land use bylaw amendments are housekeeping changes to address improvements for consistency and ease of interpretation for the benefit of the town’s development authority, stakeholders, developers, builders and property owners,” she said.
“The intent is to improve the tools utilized by the development authority to provide better communication and transparency with applicants,” she said, adding the amendments also introduced new regulations for storing recreational vehicles in residential districts.
Inquiring about updates in the residential parking requirement schedule, Coun. Owen Petersen noted that single detached as well as modular homes that used to need one spot now require developers to account for two parking spaces per unit, as do multi-family dwellings fronting onto a public roadway.
“We are changing it to two per unit for single family dwellings,” Fountain confirmed, adding that generally means there is a garage of some sort as well as a driveway.
Petersen followed up to ask if existing homes and buildings are all grandfathered.
“This is just (for) new builds, right?” he said, which Fountain confirmed.
Under apartment dwellings, new developments will be expected to include plans to accommodate one parking space per one-bedroom unit or 1.5 parking spaces for each two-bedroom unit. Three-bedroom units will be required to allocate at least two parking spaces, plus one additional space for every five units that must be clearly identified as guest parking.
Council heard that no written or verbal opposition was officially expressed or submitted during the public hearing’s advertising period.
Speaking from the perspective of a home-based business owner, Coun. Jaime Marr expressed gratitude for the clarity and said the amendments help standardize a more level playing field.
Coun. Todd Dalke sought further clarification with regards to tenant parking at apartment buildings, and asked if the owners of new builds would be required to ensure every resident has a stall.
“It would require every unit to have at least one space, and then one visitor stall for every two units,” said Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer.
Pressing the matter further, Petersen asked, “Who dictates that?”
For example, the councillor said he wanted to know if a developer were to build a new apartment complex, would the condo association have the power to allocate stalls as they see fit, or would a stall be automatically assigned by default upon rental or purchase of a unit.
“The only thing that we can do, is when the development permit application comes in and they show us the drawing, they show us the number of stalls,” said Nelson. “And from there, that is the end of our involvement in the process.”
The proposed changes also included an additional stipulation that “only recreational vehicles for the sole use of the property owner . . . may be stored on any residential property. This does not apply to multi-family or apartment properties.”
Council proceeded to approve the land use bylaw amendments.
