WESTLOCK — Westlock residents were emotional at times when they spoke out against the proposed rezoning of a property on 103 Street during a public hearing at a Town of Westlock special council meeting July 15.
Several residents spoke against a land use bylaw amendment that would rezone the property at 10403 103 St. from medium density to a high-density residential district to allow development of row housing, which councillors ultimately passed in a 4-1 vote.
The applicants, Dan and Ehreth Horinek, spoke in favour of the rezoning.
“We have a housing issue with staff right now in our community, (there are) no places here to rent,” said Dan Horinek. “So we see this lot very close to our business. We thought we could put four or five (two-bedroom) units on there and house some of our employees that are desperately looking for somewhere to work and live.”
Westlock resident Roxanne Arthur said she doesn’t doubt the building will be nice, but questioned how it would benefit that part of town.
“I can’t see it improving the neighborhood as a family area to live,” said Arthur. “Yes, we’re open for new people to move into the neighborhood but there’s got to be other places where they can build higher up and bigger apartments for people to rent.”
Some residents had concerns with snow removal in the back alley in winter, and with privacy issues.
“On top of it, this unit’s going to be high and windows will be facing out over all the other lots where you won’t have any privacy lent for your own lot unless you build a fence that’s way higher,” said Rod McFarlane, who was also one of several residents who submitted a letter to administration regarding the rezoning.
Following public feedback, councillors discussed areas of concern residents noted during the public hearing, including parking, traffic flow and congestion, snow removal, spacing issues as well as privacy concerns.
Westlock mayor Jon Kramer asked administration to speak to protections in the land use bylaw with regards to the proposed development and privacy, and pointed to an example of neighbourhoods in Calgary with backyard suites where privacy is a major concern.
“The basic rule is that the land use bylaw protects that from happening,” Kramer said of an example of someone’s window overlooking a backyard. “There’s checks and balances all throughout our land use bylaw.”
In response, director of planning and development Danielle Pougher did note specific and general regulations in the town’s land use bylaw that pertain to “not impacting the usage or enjoyment of the neighbourhood.”
“Then more specifically, in the R2 and the R3 districts in particular, we do have a requirement that development shall be planned so that matters such as appearance, the provision of adequate light, privacy and landscaping are all taken into account,” explained Pougher “…so there are a variety of requirements in the land use bylaw that speak to site and building design as a whole, just to ensure that we’re mitigating wherever possible, the impacts of those developments on the overall neighbourhood.”
