Habitat for Humanity project a go after council approves application

Habitat for Humanity will now be able to construct a semi-detached housing unit on a newly purchased lot after city council changed the bylaw and approved the organization’s discretionary use application.

Habitat for Humanity Regina recently bought 1015 Ominica Street East, which consists of two 7.5-metre (25-foot) legal lots. City hall has zoned the property as R1 – large lot low-density residential district, which is to provide for large-lot residential development in the form of one-unit dwellings.

The non-profit organization is proposing to construct two residential dwelling units — one on each legal lot — with a shared wall along the property line. The zoning bylaw classifies this as “dwellings, semi-detached.” During its July 13 regular meeting, council voted unanimously to approve Habitat for Humanity’s discretionary use application so it could construct that dwelling on the two lots. During the previous council meeting, council approved changing the zoning bylaw so this project could happen.

City administration recommended approving the application due to the size of the lots in the area and the alignment with the Housing Business Plan’s recommendation for housing variety, a council report explained. The R1 district is primarily composed of detached one-unit dwellings on 15-metre (50-foot) lots.

The zoning bylaw sets out four criteria that the discretionary use application must meet. After review, city hall agreed that the application meets those criteria because:

• Semi-detached dwellings are often more affordable than single detached dwellings and provide variety for housing options. The 2018 Housing Business Plan recommends that Moose Jaw pursue more various housing forms to address the community’s needs,

• The municipality does not anticipate that it will have to upgrade area infrastructure due to this application;

• Semi-detached dwellings are unlikely to cause problems for surrounding homeowners.