Council defeated a request for Connection Homes to vary the minimum side yard setbacks to authorize the construction of a new single-family home in Stony Mountain’s Mountain Ridge Park development.
The company requested to vary the north and south side yard setbacks to five feet from the required 10 feet to build a new single-family home on Stony Lane on the east side of Stony Mountain. Three people attended a recent public hearing in opposition.
The pie-shaped vacant property spans about 9,207 square feet and it’s surrounded by a new residential development to the north, a road reserve to the south and southwest, and a vacant residential lot to the east.
“The property presents challenges with adhering to the zoning requirements due to the pie-shaped lot,” states the applicant’s letter of intent. “This reduction in side yards will allow us to construct a residence that aligns with the community’s character and visual appeal. We have ensured that the proposed plans will not negatively affect the neighbouring properties.”
Council has approved several other similar variances to allow for the development of single-family homes in Mountain Ridge Park.
South Interlake Planning District had no significant concerns with the proposal. SIPD’s report notes that the property is one of many that had been previously varied to 55 feet wide from the minimum 70-foot wide requirement. The 10-foot minimum side yard setback continues to apply.
“The minimum side yard setback requirement (10 feet) is onerous and unusually large for a 55-foot-wide lot, and as a result, has become a constraint for the builder who now wishes to build a standard single-family dwelling on the subject property. As a result, variances are required,” states SIPD’s report.
“To avoid repeated variances on smaller RS-1 zoned lots in the Mountain Ridge development, it is recommended that council review their zoning bylaw and consider updating their bulk requirements and/or introducing a new residential zone to accommodate smaller lots and smaller side yard setback requirements.”
SIPD recommended conditional approval as long as council was satisfied that the proposed variation complies with the Planning Act.
“Based on the information provided, the variance appears to be a reasonable solution to accommodate the lot’s specific conditions while maintaining compatibility with the surrounding area,” states the SIPD report.
Council defeated the variation request.
The side yard setbacks are set at 10 feet, but 15 per cent variations can be done at the discretion of South Interlake Planning District’s development officer without the need for council approval.
Reeve Wes Taplin said the first house to be built in the cul-de-sac has side yard setbacks of 8.5 feet, which was a minor variation that didn’t need council’s approval since it’s a 15 per cent reduction from the required 10 feet.
“Being the first house in, it set the standard for all the houses. We, as a council, decided to keep them all the same in that cul-de-sac — you shouldn’t have one at 8.5 feet, one at five feet, one at seven feet and one at three feet. Because the lot is pie-shaped, you’d only have to move the house back two or three feet to gain your 8.5 feet, which is a minor variance,” he said.
“Cul-de-sacs are an operational nightmare because you have no room between driveways to store any snow. With lots of driveways, you have the front part of the boulevard to store snow on. In a cul-de-sac, you don’t have that luxury at all because the driveways are just about touching a lot of the time. We’re trying to look on the safety side of it too.”
In other council news:
• Chief administrative officer Chris Luellman took a leave of absence (March 6 to April 7) from his role at the RM of Rockwood. In his absence, operations director Ian Tesarski fulfilled the chief administrative officer’s duties on an interim basis as the acting CAO, with support of the management team.
