Parking concerns
City rezones land for mini-home neighbourhood after addressing concerns
Land in East Royalty has been rezoned to allow for the development of 66 mini-homes, but not without a few questions from city councillors.
The decision was made during a Charlottetown council meeting at City Hall on Feb. 8. Coun. Coun. Mike Duffy said the homes would be accessible for a variety of people, such as young people looking for a starter home or people looking to downsize.
“This is the starting block to put the wheels on this project that’s hopefully going to help a lot of people.”
The land, which is located between Norwood Road and Friar Drive, was rezoned from a low-density residential zone. A public meeting on the development was held in January for area residents.
Coun. Julie McCabe was at first hesitant to approve the rezoning as she felt a number of questions had been left unanswered following the public meeting, such as why the only access point was off of Friar Drive and what the plan was for vehicle parking.
“There’s not going to be room for street parking in this new subdivision,” she said.
Alex Forbes, the city’s planning manager, responded by noting traffic studies were done and that the developer intends to provide two parking spaces for each property.
Public works manager Scott Adams added the developer is now planning to have the new subdivision’s road loop, so there are technically two access points onto Friar Road. The primary concern he sees is parking as the subdivision is relatively small.
“We don’t know how many vehicles these homes are going to have, so there could be concerns of additional parking on the street.”
McCabe’s questions pertained to environmental assessments and the buffer zone around a stream that runs through the land, which the province will regulate as needed.
Satisfied with most of the answers, McCabe requested that the rezoning be amended to include an agreement with the developer ensuring each property has two parking spots.