City and developer agree on proposed apartment building development
The City of Swift Current has agreed to relax certain site regulations to allow a developer to continue with a proposed apartment building.
Council members approved the development agreement during a regular council meeting, Jan. 8.
The agreement is a result of a development permit application submitted by Cypress Professional Center Ltd for a piece of vacant land along Saskatchewan Drive in the northeast part of the city.
It is across the street from The Meadows long-term care facility in an area zoned for a mix of commercial and residential land uses in the Saskatchewan Valley neighbourhood.
The initial phase of the proposed development will be a three-storey, 24-unit apartment building and a future phase might result in the construction of a similar size building, but those details have not yet been determined.
City Development Officer Kathy Dand provided information about the development agreement during the council meeting and also spoke afterwards to media.
“These standards and regulations may be varied by the City council in a development agreement when consistent with the intent of the zoning bylaw and official community plan,” she said. “To approve any variance, council may include certain conditions in the agreement that provide for considerations such as public use areas or amenities.”
In this case, the developer agreed to provide the City with an area on the site in front of the apartment building for a future bus stop. This will address a potential future need in this neighbourhood.
“As an arterial street, public transit service along Saskatchewan Drive will likely increase in use as this are of the city grows,” she said.
“Securing a potential spot for a bus stop area here now will add to the available options if the City determines the need.”
The City agreed to relax conditions with regard to parking requirements for the proposed development as well as the side-yard setback between the initial building and a future building.
The on-site parking for an apartment building is typically only allowed on the side and rear yards. The City agreed to make an exception in this case and to allow parking at the front.
Dand noted that front-yard parking would have been allowed for commercial development and there is no concern on this site for traffic impact or aesthetics due to the zoning of the site as a direct control neighbourhood commercial district surrounded by low density residential uses.
The City will allow the side-yard setback for commercial use and not the setback requirement for an apartment building, because the building’s height will have to be lowered if the guideline for apartment buildings is applied.
“This would reduce the number of apartment units that could be developed, which is not a desired effect for either the developer or the City,” she said.
Dand noted that the Planning and Development Act, which regulates planning decisions in the province, includes provisions for a development agreement that deviates from the typical standards of a direct control district.
“The most important thing is that we’re seeing this growth and we’re seeing residential dwellings,” she said. “It’s another option for people to look at to live. … When we can see that there’s an advantage to both the developer and to the public in general, we’ll try and find common ground.”
City approves property subdivision for future commercial development:
Council members approved a subdivision application during the Jan. 8 regular council meeting that will make a piece of land available for future commercial development.
The site at the corner of North Service Road East and Memorial Drive (Highway No. 4) is located in a highway commercial district.
It was recently redeveloped, which resulted in the creation of a filling station with a strip mall on the one side of the site directly adjacent to Memorial Drive.
The other portion of the site, which used to be the location of a Humpty’s Restaurant, is now vacant. The subdivision splits the 3.2-acre property in two separate units consisting of 1.5 acres of vacant land and 1.7 acres with the filling station and strip mall.
“So that vacant area where the old Humpty’s used to be, I believe they’re going to try and plan to redevelop that into other commercial uses,” Dand said. “So the subdivision would allow either the current owner to do that or if they wanted to sell that in the future.”
Council approves bylaw amendment for carbon tax increase:
An amendment to the Electrical Utility Bylaw was approved during the Jan. 8 council meeting to apply the same carbon charge electric rate increase than Saskpower. The federal carbon tax on emissions above certain thresholds was established in 2019. It will continue to increase annually until it reaches $170 per tonne of CO2 emissions in 2030.
The carbon tax on Saskpower’s carbon emissions increased from $65 to $80 per tonne of CO2 emissions on Jan. 1, 2024. The Crown corporation therefore made an adjustment to the carbon charge rate rider for customers and Swift Current Light and Power is implementing the same increase to maintain rate parity with Saskpower.
It will mean a system average rate increase of 0.38 per cent for Light and Power customers effective Jan. 1. For residential customers this will mean an average monthly increase of about 20 cents for an apartment, 40 cents for an average home and 55 cents for a large residence.