On Wednesday, October 22, a handful of residents gathered in council chambers to represent a series of conditional use and variation requests.
Father and daughter duo Nathasha and Craig Whitman addressed council with their desire to build a garden suite at 1175 Andrechuk Road. Due to the property’s location on land zoned agricultural limited, this eight-acre property isn’t eligible for subdivision.
The request was to add a second dwelling to the property, currently owned by Natasha’s parents, Craig and Carol. Natasha and her partner recently returned from military service abroad and hope to raise their kids in the countryside while remaining close to her parents for help with childcare.
Craig, a property appraiser by trade, says the Royal Bank recently made changes to their policy that make it easier for families to get one mortgage on two properties.
“What it is aiming to do is keep families together in situations like this,” Craig said. “What you’re going to see in the future is a lot of people doing this type of thing. Where does a kid get a downpayment for a $400,000 house, which is pretty much your base house right now?”
Council admitted to having a few concerns with the idea. RM bylaw currently limits the size of a garden suite to 860 square feet. The Whitmans’ ask was for a garden suite of 2,160 square feet.
Additionally, there was some concern about the future sale of a property with two full-sized homes.
Council approved the Whitmans’ request on the condition that, should either dwelling become vacant or change title in the future, the original homestead be removed from the property, leaving only the garden suite.
The second applicant to address council was Jing Jing Zhang, who sought approval to open a dumpling and noodle processing plant at 18-630 Discovery Drive in Grande Pointe.
Zhang assured council that the plant would not produce any excess noise or noxious odors.
Council approved the application, limiting the hours of operation between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.
Meanwhile, at 483 Main Street in Île-des-Chênes, applicant Mike Fast was looking for permission to develop the community’s old convent into a multifamily dwelling consisting of eight rental units.
A representative for Fast’s numbered company stepped forward to answer questions.
“We are not the owners, but we have an offer to purchase,” she said. “However, we don’t want something that’s not in compliance.”
Councillor Shane Pelletier informed the applicant that there are boundary issues with the neighbouring parish hall that will need to be addressed. Namely, these include an eave on the southside of the existing building that overhangs the church property. As well, the wall on the same side needs to be upgraded for fire rating.
Even so, he said, he’s looking forward to the property being under the ownership of someone local as opposed to someone living out of province.
Approaching council to share their concerns were parish council president Trudeau and vice-president Vernier.
“We’ve attempted to work out a settlement with the current owner, but he breached the verbal agreement for far too long, so the offer was withdrawn,” Vernier said.
According to Vernier, the parish had been prepared to sell seven feet of church-owned property to the current owner, which would solve not only the encroachment issue but provide enough space for the proper setback, too. In the same agreement, the owner of 483 Main was to cover the parish’s legal costs to make this happen. Unfortunately, he failed to follow through.
In the end, council approved Fast’s request on the condition that the encroachment concerns be addressed prior to any new development being approved on the site.