‘Don’t surround my house with duplexes’

There's a big difference between 19 single houses and 28 duplexes, city planners heard Thursday night as they presented plans that would see six sites opened for single-family lot development in Porter Creek.

There’s a big difference between 19 single houses and 28 duplexes, city planners heard Thursday night as they presented plans that would see six sites opened for single-family lot development in Porter Creek.

The city is proposing to open up the areas, which are zoned for residential single-detached development. If council goes ahead with the plan, a request would go to the territorial government.

YTG would then decide whether to service the land and put the lots out in a public lottery or go through a tendering process to service and sell the lots privately.

Five of the six properties are owned by the territory, with one being city-owned land.

Among the close to 40 or so people who turned out for last night’s session in the Porter Creek Secondary School cafeteria were many who said they hadn’t realized duplexes fell under the same residential single-detached zone their own single-family homes do.

“Don’t surround my house with duplexes,“ Mike Henney said after looking over the proposed plans before the presentation began.

When he chose to purchase his house in Porter Creek, Henney bought in a neighbourhood of single-family homes that aren’t duplexes because that was the lifestyle he wanted.

Had he desired to live in a duplex or a neighbourhood which included duplexes, he would have moved elsewhere in the city, he argued.

“That’s not what I bought into,“ he said.

For duplexes to be constructed, lot sizes have to be at least 835 square metres, it was noted by city planners.

Other locals argued they hadn’t known the land by their houses could be developed when they purchased the property.

“The zoning has been there for a long time,“ Mike Gau, the city’s planning and development manager, pointed out during the presentation.

The properties have been zoned for residential development since the 1970s, but were never serviced, residents were told.

As one resident commented though, the development designations have changed over the years, as have the allowance of duplexes in the single-family detached zone.

Depending on what developers end up doing with the land, whether duplex or single homes are put in and how the sites are subdivided, the properties could end up with anywhere from 36 to 51 new homes.

While city planner Mike Ellis stressed the city isn’t endorsing any particular subdivision, diagrams on display at the school showcased possibilities for each site.

Planners were also questioned on how the city would determine which trails would be maintained or preserved.

Gau noted the city’s Official Community Plan states trail networks need to be maintained, which could mean reconfiguring commonly used paths.

What’s kept in place also depends on the trail’s use, Gau explained. More consideration would likely be given for a trail commonly used by the neighbourhood as opposed to a small path leading out of a person’s backyard, for example.

It was also noted there is some bedrock and other topographical challenges that will have to be dealt with.

Questions also came up on just how much noise and inconvenience residents would have to put up with during the construction of the new sites.

While many took issue with new housing, especially duplexes, on land near their homes, one resident complained of the “slap dash” process taking place to deal with the lot shortage in the city.

Proper planning would have seen a five-year supply of lots available, it was argued.

“We’re covering their ass,“ the resident said of the government.

The opening of the lots is coming forward after realtors, the business community and contractors have been vocal about the need for new single-family lots to open up quickly.

Plans are underway for new residential developments in the Porter Creek lower bench (which is expected to be named Whistle Bend), on the former Stan McCowan Arena site and in an expansion area of Arkell.

As major developments, though, those sites will take longer, with zoning, roads and such to be dealt with.

The six lots proposed in existing areas of Porter Creek to be opened could be for sale earlier because they are already zoned properly and located on major roads already in place. Those roads include Clyde Wann Road, Boxwood Crescent, Holly Street, Grove Street and along Mountainview Drive where it becomes Hickory Street.

Water and sewer services will have to be extended to each site.

The city has set a June 25 deadline for public comment. That information will then be put into a report for council to be presented at its July 7 meeting, with a vote on whether to proceed with the plan on July 14.

It would then be up to the territory to decide how to proceed. That will determine how early the lots are for sale.

Gau said that while the city has been in discussions with the territory on the plan, YTG is waiting for the city’s decision before looking at how it will move ahead on it.