There could be more options for multi-family housing, including apartment buildings, coming to Okotoks’ north side.
Developer Anthem United submitted an application for a land use redesignation, which was approved by council at its Jan. 13 meeting. It added a new residential medium-density multi-unit (R3) district and a residential low-density multi-unit (R2) district to the Wedderburn lands to the north of Banister Gate.
In the R2 district, housing would be restricted to attached units such as duplexes, and in the R3 district there could be attached housing or apartment buildings up to four storeys high.
“It is a slight variation from the approved Wedderburn outline plan, as the areas that are proposed R2 were originally anticipated to be R1S, which is the small-lot single-detached product,” said Okotoks senior planner Colin Gainer.
He said replacing 49 R1S lots with 62 of the R2 duplex units makes for a net increase of 13 dwellings, changing the density of the neighbourhood from 8.7 units to 8.8 units per acre.
The development of Wedderburn Phase 3 will take precedence over the gateway at D’Arcy, which is also being built by Anthem United, due to water allocations, he said.
As a developer, Anthem United has access to a limited amount of water based on the number of water licences it has procured and transferred to the Town, he said. The company is nearing the limits of its reserved water capacity and has opted to reprioritize its development in Okotoks, proceeding with the Wedderburn land ahead of the D’Arcy gateway project.
“Under this scenario, Anthem United would be required to address those remaining zoned gateway lands in advance of any subsequent new rezoning applications,” said Gainer.
The Town has a certain amount of water for approving green field developments – any development outside of an existing built-up area. Only so much land can be rezoned and subdivided to fit within the capacity of the water allocation system, which is the licence capacity the Town can withdraw from the Sheep River at any one time, he said.
Capacity is calculated by reviewing the amount of water available to the entire Town and taking into account the amount required for current users, including existing residential, commercial and industrial areas of the town, he said.
The amount available for development is what remains after those factors are taken into account, he said.
“Beyond that we have what we call reserve development capacity for developers,” said Gainer.
Developers like Anthem United may have their own water licences to be transferred to the Town or water licences may be purchased – and if the Town pays for it, the costs are paid back through development contribution fees and offsite levies, he said.
However, there is also a certain amount of reserved capacity water the Town has access to, called the common queue, which can be tapped into as necessary.
When Anthem United uses up its own water reserve with the Wedderburn Phase 3 development and the beginning of the the D’Arcy gateway, it will be able to take a maximum of 60 acre feet of water from the common queue.
“The remaining portion that is assigned to the gateway lands would come out of the common queue, but it is still less than the maximum that is allowed to be withdrawn,” said Gainer. “The reserve capacity is still being taken down and is not taking an unfair amount from the common capacity that is available for all new development.”
Dario and Sheila Bonin, who currently live on Banister Drive, attended the public hearing to inquire about water use, the type of housing to be expected in Wedderburn, and parking concerns.
“Parking is already difficult the way the road is, it’s very busy from Banister, so we’re wondering how that is going to be addressed,” said Sheila.
Gainer said each type of housing development must provide a certain number of parking spaces on-site.
“An apartment has to have two spaces per dwelling unit, whether that is right in front of the unit or if it’s underground or beside the building, it has to account for that many spaces per dwelling unit,” he said.
As far as access and traffic, he said those decisions would be made at the detailed design and development permit stage of the process.
Coun. Matt Rockley said the land use redesignation made sense and aligned well with the overall outline plan for the north end of Okotoks.
“I can see it will tie in seamlessly with the rest of the development as planned in that Wedderburn area,” he said.
