(File photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

City Council Meeting

Melfort passes bylaw to allow duplex builds on east side

May 7, 2019 | 8:26 AM

The City of Melfort is moving forward with changes to allow for duplexes in an area of the city that currently does not permit them.

A big topic of conversation at the regular council meeting Monday, May 6 was regarding a bylaw to rezone a portion of Orr Drive on the east side to R2 from the current R1A designation. The bylaw would only rezone six lots on part of the street that back out onto Shadd Drive.

A developer in the area is wanting to build a duplex on each lot, and have each unit have its own title.

“This type of thing is happening in other communities all over the province,” Mayor Rick Lang told northeastNOW. “You don’t see segmented areas so much that are strictly segmented to duplexes, or R2 development. There’s what they call ‘mixed zoning’, which is R1 and R2 in the same area.”

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Many members of the community who live in the area were in attendance at the meeting and voiced their opinions on the project. Some were in favour of the duplexes being built, and some were against. Those who were against were worried they could become rental properties. However, Lang said that council does not foresee that being an issue.

“With the cost of what these houses are going to retail for, I don’t foresee, and obviously Council doesn’t foresee anybody buying that duplex at that cost to rent it out, “he said. “It’s going to be owner occupied.”

Ultimately the bylaw was passed unanimously on both the second and third readings.

“We all felt that obviously it is of such quality,” Lang said. “And the size of the proposed units, and the architectural controls that are going to be implemented by administration should make it fit in quite well.”

There was also concern of other multi-unit dwellings going in the area in the future, but council did say that once the new Official Community Plan is approved, that area can be considered “R2 by contract”, meaning that there are certain controls to make sure only certain developments go there.

For the developer to have each unit have its own title, it would need to be subdivided into 12 lots. That would need to come to another council meeting.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6