St. Albert's citizen-based Subdivision Development Appeal Board has backed city planners by denying a permit for an 82-unit townhouse development in the Riverside neighbourhood.
The land, 4 Redspur Drive, is co-owned by Gurpreet Gill, according to the Appeal Board's written decision published online. The Gazette was unable to contact Gill or determine the name of the development company.
The decision said granting the project a development permit would have required the approval of 127 variances to the city's land-use bylaw — substantially more than the city's development officer is allowed to approve on a case-by-case basis — which is why the developer appealed city staff's initial rejection and appealed to the Subdivision Development Appeal Board (SDAB).
A variance is a deviation from specific measurements and rules enforced by a municipality in land-use planning,
In the case of the proposed townhouse complex in Riverside, the SDAB's decision said the developer's proposal involved 44 variances regarding setbacks, or the minimum distance a building must be separated from a roadway, property line, or hazard.
The project, which is currently designed to have 13 different blocks of townhouses, proposed encroaching on designated setbacks by as much as 75 per cent in some instances, the SDAB decision said.
Another 82 variances were requested by the developers for not planning to build two-car garages for each unit to the city's minimum size requirement.
The minimum size requirement for a double-car garage is 5.8 metres by 5.8 metres, and the size proposed by the developers in the permit application was 5.54 metres by 5.54 metres.
During the appeal hearing last month, the city argued “the proposed townhouse development does not provide adequate functionality for a medium-density residential development.”
“The variances required for many various setbacks ... and the garage depth shortfall which does not allow for minimum parking requirements of its future residents, cannot be supported,” the city told the board. “This is a critical element that creates a serious detriment, which was not adequately addressed by the developer.”
“A developer must strive to strictly limit the number of variance requests in order to ensure the intent of a functional living environment, and that it is provided for all residents. Operational constraints and functionality of this development in the opinion of the development branch have not been adequately mitigated.”
During the hearing, Gill told the SDAB garage measurements were incorrect in the initial development permit application, and actual measurements planned for the project are up to code.
Gill also requested the board take into consideration that some variances were approved for another townhouse development already built near Gill's proposed site.
“A similar townhome development at 5 Redspur drive had many internal sites variances approved; similar variances are requested to be financially competitive with other rental sites,” the board's decision attributes to Gill.
The SDAB said it felt “the proposed variances will cause a negative impact on the residents and neighbourhood.”
The city's LandScape Interactive Map says 4 Redspur Drive has an assessed property value of $3.4 million.
