CANMORE – The potential development of 18 new Canmore Community Housing units could head to Canmore council as early as August for a possible rezoning.
The proposed units at 205 Stewart Creek Rise could add to CCH’s affordable housing inventory and were submitted to the Town’s planning department May 19.
“We’re really excited to have another homeownership project coming down,” said CCH board chair Rob Murray. “It’s a pretty big waitlist to house more residents under our program at a price point that’s still pretty reasonable for our area and it’s something we’re really thrilled about.”
The proposal would see the two parcels rezoned to a residential family low-density district and potentially be up for first reading as early as council’s Aug. 15 meeting.
The conceptual plan has 18 potential units, with 11 having three bedrooms and the remaining seven two bedrooms in row townhome layout.
According to the conceptual plan, there would be 33 parking stalls, including three for visitors.
The intent of the units is to add to CCH’s ownership inventory.
“One of the challenges with the site is it’s an odd shaped land. … It was zoned differently. Having the R2A district really matches the surrounding area and gives us more flexibility in actually building stuff on that land,” Murray said.
The PD district was bought by CCH in September 2019 from the Town for the eventual development of affordable housing.
One parcel of land is designated as a PD district, while the second is R3-SC for residential multi-units. If approved by council, the lands would align with the majority of the area.
“We’ve been sitting on it, deciding what to do with it, and now’s the time when we don’t have other major projects in the pipe to actually put some houses down on it,” Murray said.
Lisa de Soto, CCH’s strategic leadership advisor, said at CCH’s June meeting they could’ve asked for a direct control district zoning, but feedback from the planning department was that it wasn’t preferred.
She said they looked at other rezoning options and felt the R2A-SC was the best option. She added 40 per cent of the site has to be landscaped and since it’s more than 10 units, a play structure needs to be provided.
As of the end of June, CCH’s ownership wait list is 208 people with 85 new applications being added this year.
The rental program has a waitlist of 158 people and 128 have been added this year.
CCH has an inventory of 162 affordable homes in its ownership program and 158 in the rental program.
Murray said if the rezoning is approved and the rest of the application process moves forward, the hope is to have construction start in 2024.
While the conceptual design is for townhome layout, there’s potential for new concepts to come forward.
“That’s what we’ve got in mind at the moment, but it could really change as things come down,” Murray said. “We’re looking for something that will maximize the use of that land and still provide a nice area for kids to play in, families to recreate and have a nice place to live. At the end of the day, it has to be a nice place to live.”
