Charlottetown resident suggests housing developer get permission to reduce parking, keeping it underground
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CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — An Oct. 9 metropolis council vote will determine the destiny of a 253-unit rental housing improvement that may characteristic within the metropolis’s long-term plans for development alongside Mount Edward Highway in Charlottetown.
Town’s planning board despatched a suggestion to council on Sept. 20 to permit a collection of townhouses and condominium buildings at 247 and 251 Mount Edward Rd. This adopted a Sept. 6 public assembly, the place councillors and residents acquired to share their issues and heard from the architect and metropolis planner.
The realm in query is a main location for residential improvement, mentioned Robert Haggis, principal architect for SableArc, employed by Flourish Improvement Group.
“It’s sandwiched between Mount Edward Highway and Confederation Path, straight behind Canadian Tire (and) the Royalty Crossing Mall,” he mentioned. “Strolling distance inside various retail industrial institutions.”
It’s additionally shut to varsities and public transportation, he added.
Resident
Charlottetown resident Andrea Battison spoke concerning the want for designing subdivisions in walkable, family-friendly ways in which don’t prioritize autos over individuals.
“We’re making a model new neighbourhood,” she mentioned. “It will be superior to see individuals bringing ideas for the twenty first century into this neighbourhood, making it livable, walkable, interactive.”
“We’re making a model new neighbourhood. It will be superior to see individuals bringing ideas for the twenty first century into this neighbourhood, making it livable, walkable, interactive.” – Andrea Battison, Charlottetown resident
Battison mentioned there was potential for extra greenspace if the event acquired a variance from the town to have much less parking than the bylaw requires: 0.75 areas per housing unit, as a substitute of the required one house for every unit.
The plans present 80 per cent of the parking deliberate for underground, and roughly 35 per cent of the entire land devoted to greenspace, together with 11 per cent for metropolis park land. However having much less complete parking might preserve all of it underground, Battison recommended.
Whereas the architect mentioned they didn’t assume a variance for parking was allowable, Battison mentioned it exists downtown for a constructing alongside Connaught Sq..
“(It) will get parking allocation and had to purchase parking in a parkade as a result of they don’t have parking on-site. You may have a large parking mall – shopping center – asphalt desert.”
Mayor Philip Brown mentioned the supervisor of coverage and heritage would look into whether or not that sort of variance is feasible.
“I do know the property you’re speaking about.”
Plans
The plans for Mount Edward Highway are available in two phases, and designs all contain the town’s deliberate Spencer Drive extension and north-south connector that may attain from the extension as much as Martha’s Court docket.
The entire lot is about eight acres, together with parkland and roads, Laurel Palmer Thompson, metropolis planner, mentioned throughout her opening presentation.
Proposed items
Following is a breakdown of the proposed 253 housing items:
Part 1 (74 items):
- 16 stacked townhouses – 32 items
- Three condominium buildings – two with 12 items, one with 18 x 18
Part 2 179 items:
- Three condominium buildings (4, 5 and six-storey buildings with a complete 175 items)
- Two stacked homes (4 items complete)
Council voted on Aug. 14 to ship the proposal to the required public assembly. Twenty-eight notification letters went out to residents inside 100 m on Aug 24. Nobody submitted a letter both in favour or opposing the event by deadline, she mentioned.
In an electronic mail on Sept. 14, a spokesperson for the town mentioned, that after the planning board in September, the proposal would go to the council’s subsequent common assembly on Oct. 9. This implies a bylaw modification, which takes two readings, with the second on the following common assembly, anticipated for Nov. 14., the spokesperson mentioned.
“Following which era, the proponents must enter right into a improvement settlement with the town and apply for a constructing and improvement allow.”
The planning board voted on Sept. 20 to suggest the bylaw amendments to council.
Logan MacLean is a municipal reporter with SaltWire in Prince Edward Island. He might be reached by electronic mail at [email protected] and adopted on X @loganmaclean94.
