A townhouse development consisting of 28 rental units is planned for properties on 10th Street SW, across from the Mall at Piccadilly.
To accommodate the project, a rezoning application for 680 10th St. SW, is on its way to city council for approval.
The applicant, developer Gary Arsenault of Green Emerald Construction, wishes to rezone the property from R10 (residential) to R5 (high-density residential). Final reading of the proposed zoning amendment is subject to the consolidation of 680 with the property to the south, 710, 10th St. SW., as well as approval from the Ministry of Transportation and Transit.
When consolidated, the parcel would be approximately .29 hectares (.72 acres) in area.
Single-family dwellings currently exist on each of the properties.
"Should the rezoning be adopted, this would allow for between 29 and 37 units, depending on if amenities are provided," explained senior planner Melinda Smyrl at the Jan. 20 development and planning services committee meeting.
"We plan on doing a 28-unit rental project," Arsenault told the committee. "There will be five buildings – three of them will be six-plexes and two of them will be five-plexes… they’ll look like three-plexes and four-plexes, but what we’ve done is taken the garage out of the end units and put a one-bedroom handicap accessible suite in there, and up above is a two-bedroom unit. The centre units are three bedrooms…"
Arsenault said a goal of the project is to make the units as "energy efficient and as affordable as possible," adding "it will be strictly rental units, not strata."
The committee voted unanimously in favour of the application proceeding to council for approval. Mayor Alan Harrison noted the reason the property isn't already zoned R5, as neighbouring properties, has to do with its size.
"…one of the reasons that this property has not been rezoned to high density is the narrowness of the property, so consolidation with the property next to it allows both pieces to be high density," said Harrison, adding "it’s the perfect spot for high density."
The application will be up for first reading at the Feb. 10 council meeting. At that time, council could also give second and third readings. There will be no public hearing.
