Direct Control rezoning amendment passes

Posted on November 28, 2024 by Sunny South News

By Nikki Jamieson
Sunny South News

An area in NW Coaldale has been rezoned to allow for commercial uses.

A public hearing for Land Use Bylaw Amendment 900-P-10-24 was held during Coaldale town council’s regular Nov. 18 meeting.

The proposed LUB amendment would rezone properties at1801 & 1809 30 Street from Urban Reserve (UR) to Direct Control (DC), allowing the space to potentially be developed into a commercial area in line with requirements of the NW Area Structure Plan. The applicant, 1478063 Ontario Ltd., wishes to build a retail shopping center here, with potential uses including grocery stores, pharmacy, general retail, pet retail, and fast service restaurants.  Uses such as gas station, hotel, service station, car wash, or automotive sales and service would not be allowed.

As the area is identified being for both residential and commercial use, with density planned to be gradually increasing, by listing it as DC with altered C-2 zoning uses, the idea is to lessen the development’s impact on neighboring residents.

First reading of the bylaw previously took place during council’s regular Oct. 28 meeting.

Two pieces of correspondence were included in the report from neighboring residents in opposition of the bylaw, raising concerns with increased traffic in the area because of the development, issues with proximity of the parking lot to their properties, impacts to local wildlife, drainage, and the visual impact to nearby residences.

Addressing these concerns in his report, director of growth and development for the town said that the site will be design so to position higher intensity uses, such as drive-through restaurants, to the to the west and south of the existing site to benefit from highway visibility, and additional landscaping beyond the standard baseline can be put in along the property boundary to provide additional separation from the neighboring properties, which will remains low density residential for the time being.

When asked by Mayor Jack Van Rijn what they planned to due about the existing traffic congestion on 30 Street, especially with concerns it’ll be compounded further, Mills said the existing congestion has to do with signal optimization, which is controlled by the province.

“Our engineers have been discussing with them, obviously, since the school opened, there’s been some issues with the timing of the left turn, particularly the left turn signal off of 30 Street coming out of there, causing some traffic to be backed up,” said Mills, adding they were working with Alberta Transportation on making those changes. “We had a similar issues along the 845 and Highway 3 intersection, most recently, when we had a left hand turn signal added to that, and we found that was addressed quite a bit of that challenge.”

Prior to any development taking place, a traffic assessment impact study for the NW ASP will take place regarding updating the HWY 3 and 30 Street intersection. If updates are needed, a suitable plan for installing those updates will take place before the development moves forward, although this would be separate from the rezoning process. The development will also have provisions for road widening and accommodating non-vehicular traffic. Additionally, site access will be designed in line with engineering standards and requirements, and with consideration to existing and projected traffic patterns and existing access points, including those for adjacent properties.

“The opportunity does exist here for the urbanization of 30 Street, and from our perspective, this particular project is going to expedite that project.”

Brian Otis, CEO of Otis Properties Limited, said they had been looking at this site a long time for development. He said town staff was great to work with, and called the site a “great opportunity”.

Liz Allen, a neighboring resident and one of the letter writers, spoke against the development, saying she had lived on her acreage with two properties for 47 years, maintaining it with beautiful trees and well-groomed areas.

“I am now being asked to consider looking out at 10 acres of parking lot with several commercial shops, deliveries and traffic at all times of night and day and bright lights within feet of my property. No amount of fencing and greenery will be able to mask and muffle that sight,” said Allen. “I’m asking that the ‘softer touch’ be applied and that the beautiful acreages remain intact and the developers find a less intrusive place for their project.”

Allen also raised concerns about the development’s impact on the current traffic pressure and traffic safety, especially as there will be daily deliveries for the businesses in the proposed developments, saying “I just don’t think it’s your spot”. The other letter writer, Steven Bos, a nearby resident whose business operates from his property, also attended the public hearing and spoke again the bylaw, highlighting the concerns in his letter. Another nearby resident and business owner, Peter Bos, also spoke against the bylaw, citing the timing, process, and cost to develop the properties involved considering the needed infrastructure wasn’t in place, calling the rezoning “premature”.

Coun. Jason Beekman asked for clarification that the public hearing was for the rezoning only, and not traffic concerns, which would be addressed when the development goes for approval. Mills confirmed, noting the first step in the process for developing an area was to get an general overview for growth with an ASP, and then a higher-level look during the rezoning application.

“If we approve that, which is to say we are theoretically on board with the types of uses being proposed, that still doesn’t allow for them to get started with building, move in and open their business,” said Mills. “They still have to go through a fairly rigorous development phase, which is going to be a development agreement, development permits, they’re going to undertake the engineering, provided they can prove the engineering to an engineered standard, for which our engineers and their professional credentials uphold, then and only then will they be able to go forward with the approval process. And because this is direct control, that permit is ultimately something that is brought forward and presented to council, ultimately, for approval.”

Following closure of the public hearing, coun. Jacen Abrey said, for clarity, this bylaw was to rezone the lands in question to DC, “It’s not traffic, it’s not the businesses that may or may not go in there, it’s putting this property under Direct Control (zoning).” Mills confirmed this.

“The proponent needs to know before investing a few million dollars in purchasing these properties whether there’s a possibility of having those types of use approved, and if we put the zoning in place that suggests yes, we are amendable to these types of uses provided you address the technical challenges associated with the development,” said Mills. “Then they’ll receive development approval, and at that point, then they’ll be able to begin construction on their project, and not before then.”

Van Rijn noted that why he was a fan of development, he had serious concerns with the traffic. Coun. Dale Pickering said regardless of if they approve the rezoning, they are still going to be dealing with the traffic issues there. 

Council passed second and third reading to Bylaw 900-P-10-24 to rezone 1801 & 1809 30 Street from Urban Reserve UR to Direct Control DC in split 6-1 votes, with Van Rijn being the sole vote against.