HINTON – Town council voted to rezone only one of three proposed areas of municipal land to allow for more housing amid concerns about preserving green spaces.
One proposed amendment would have rezoned 201 MacLeod Avenue from a residential standard lot district to a low-density multiple dwelling residential district.
However, during the July 30 special meeting, Coun. JoAnn Race moved to change this so the area would instead be rezoned as a park district, noting the community pushback during a previous public hearing.
“I heard the concerns; I really felt the desire to keep this as a green space and to keep this area untouched,” Race said.
Coun. Trevor Haas asked administration if there would be any obligation for the Town to add infrastructure should the lot be redesignated as a park.
CAO Jordan Panasiuk confirmed they would not.
“We have a lot of open spaces similar to this parcel with nothing on it,” Panasiuk said.
Mayor Nicholas Nissen acknowledged that while this area of land had technically been zoned for housing already, the community had been “very vocal” about this proposal. He noted these green spaces were “beautiful parts of our community.”
“These are really cool community features, and I’d hate to see this one disappear, especially given the love that the community brought in for it,” Nissen said.
In addition, council decided against rezoning 180 Cheviot Drive from a parks and recreation district to a medium-to-high density multiple dwelling residential district.
Haas was against the rezoning and noted the “disinterest” of the community, but he emphasized the need to address issues such as housing shortages, the aging population and labour shortages.
“If every area is off limits to development, we leave our community with no path,” he said.
Coun. Albert Ostashek also wasn’t in support of the rezoning but explained how developing on vacant lots adjacent to services was more economical than developing on lots on the outskirts of town.
“The development costs to get water, sewer and other services to them are just astronomical, so by the time that’s done, those properties are so expensive that people can’t afford them anyways,” Ostashek said.
Despite this decision, council disposed of the reserve designation for the lot at 176 Cheviot to provide an additional option for access for 180 Cheviot Drive, since the lot could still be used for a future park development.
Council did decide to rezone 190 Maurer Drive from a parks and recreation districts to a residential narrow lot district. Haas said there was less feedback about this proposal and more of a potential impact on Hinton’s housing shortage given the size of the area.
Council also gave second and third reading to two other amendments that rezoned areas for commercial usage.
In one amendment, several lots on Rowan Street were rezoned from a parks and recreation district to an urban node commercial district.
“Developable commercial land is a premium in Hinton, and I know there are businesses who are looking and waiting for additional commercial land to set up shop in Hinton,” Ostashek said.
Administration confirmed that there would be setbacks and fencing for any future businesses to prevent encroachment on the Happy Creek area.
For both 190 Maurer Drive and the Rowan Street lots, administration will put out an expression of interest for realtors.
In another amendment, 143 Rowan Street was rezoned from a community services district to an urban node commercial district.
This area currently has the recycling depot, although implementation of curbside recycling services under the new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program could lead to the depot being significantly downsized.
The Yellowhead Emergency Shelter for Women had requested this parcel of land by donation. Administration noted it would prepare a report in the near future and that the rezoning would accommodate “care facility” as a discretionary use.
Panasiuk clarified that administration wanted to see how the EPR program would play out before making any recommendations on this parcel.
