Broadway rezoning bylaw Public Hearing returns

A rezoning bylaw for a property on Broadway South has passed.

Raymond town council reconvened the Public Hearing for a rezoning bylaw to allow for a restaurant during their March 16 meeting.

Bylaw 1095-21 is a land-use bylaw amendment that would rezone a residential property on Broadway Avenue south.

The property, located at 186 Broadway South, has recently been sold, and the applicant currently looking to have it rezoned, so they may open a fine dining restaurant there.

They were informed prior to the purchase of the property that in order to do that, it would need to be rezoned, as its current General Residential zoning does not allow for that use. The property is located on the west side of Broadway South, near the intersection of 200 South, and 186 Broadway South has historically been zoned General Residential, and is surrounded by other residential properties. The applicant is looking to have it rezoned to a Direct Control zoning, which would allow for the town to control and set rules for what may or may not go on the property.

A Public Hearing for the bylaw was originally set for March 2, however, it was recessed to their March 16 meeting to allow for council to look into the town’s Care of Boulevards and/or Lanes Bylaw. That bylaw had been addressed earlier in the meeting, when council approved amendments to clean up the parking application process.

Returning to the Public Hearing March 16, Mark Boltezar, development officer for the town said some of the concerns that had been raised during the previous Public Hearing had been addressed in the boulevard bylaw amendments. With these amendments, council must now look at the boulevard parking application to determine “if it makes sense for the area,” given the area’s 100-foot road allowance, and boulevard parking could be considered and satisfy the LUB’s off-street parking requirement.

Bonnie Brunner, town planner with the Oldman River Regional Services Commission (ORRSC), said when considering a redesigntion from one land use district to another, council had to keep in mind several things, such as LUB compliance, consistency with the Municipal Development Plan and other adopted statutory plans, compatibility, development potential and suitability, availability of facilities and services, impacts to the town, setbacks and public or review agency comment.

“While the future land-use map doesn’t indicate this area for commercial use, there are allowances in the MDP that do indicate there may be possibility for commercial activity in residential neighbourhoods that is small-scale and not significant in terms of its impact or viability of the commercial core or compatibility of the surrounding neighbourhood,” said Brunner.

Two additional letters were also received before the second part of the Public Hearing — one in support of the application and another raising concerns about Alberta Health Services’ health requirement regarding stoves.  The applicant responded they were aware of it, were in touch with AHS and confirmed they had a separate room upstairs for cooking for the restaurant.

Coun. Ron Fromm noted he was “sympathetic” with anyone who said they didn’t want a restaurant in the neighbourhood, and trusted it would not get out of hand, which the applicant said they had no desire to be a large operation and it would also be their home. When asked if they would still live there if the restaurant did not work out, the applicant said they were not sure, but would likely start again somewhere else. If they did end up selling the house though, they would be more than happy to have it rezoned back to residential. They also weren’t making any big changes to the house, so if the restaurant didn’t work out, the house would remain the same as they moved in, but have “a fresh coat of paint and a better fridge.”

Coun. Bryce Coppieters also reported being approached by an individual with concerns about trucks and deliveries, but after sharing information with them from the previous part of the Public Hearing, their concerns were eased.

After the Public Hearing was adjourned, council unanimously passed second and the third and final readings of the bylaw.

Get More Westwind Weekly →