LDA18-0427 Highlands Commercial Rezoning

Yes please to more commercial/small business on 112 Ave!

Yes please to more commercial/small business on 112 Ave!

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The City already held an in-person public engagement session for residents/home owners to share their thoughts on this proposed re-zoning application. Turn-out for that session was high, and feedback was almost unanimously against the re-zoning. The majority of the residents/home owners do not want a commercial business in this area. Why is this feedback being dismissed and the proposal being put forward again? The many, varied reasons residents/home owners do not want a commercial business are the same now as they were then. To mention but a couple:
- Parking is already at a premium on this street: Adding a commercial business that is going to attract customers who drive is going to make parking even harder to find, not to mention making the alley a more dangerous place with an increased flow of traffic (urban wildlife, family pets, and small children frequent said alley, and increasing the flow of traffic will greatly increase the potential for an accident to occur)
- The current property owner does not appear to have any regard for the residents in the area and regularly showed up during the summer 2020 months at 1am, 3am, or later, making a lot of noise at very odd times; as a resident who lives immediately next to the property, I do not want any sort of commercial business where people are coming and going at all hours of the day and night, and the current property owner has already demonstrated that he has no regard for city noise bylaws.

Please listen to the residents/home owners in the area and drop the proposal to re-zone this property for commercial use.

Good morning,

I would like to voice my concerns over the rezoning of the property at 5335 112 ave.

When we were buying our house directly across the alley, I was concerned about how the building at 5335 112 ave was zoned. I did my due diligence and investigated. I found it was zoned residential. We then proceeded with our house purchase which we would not have done if the property at 5335 -112 ave was zoned DC2.

I recognize the owner of the property at 5335 112 ave is in a difficult situation however he bought the property knowing how it was zoned. Where was his due diligence?

My concerns with a business of any type going into this location are the following:

- Increased traffic.
There are many children now in the area and a lot of foot traffic in general and the increased traffic through the alley is a terrible idea for safety.

Parking will be an issue for residence as well.

The infrastructure is not designed for this amount and type of traffic. Already the heavy trucks and large cube vans that frequent their site have cause damage to the alley and our property. One of their trucks damaged our garage. Luckily we saw the incident occur but we are not always home.

-Noise and Waste
Businesses produce a greater amount of noise and waste than a residence. Depending on the business approved we are concerned that large amounts of smelly waste will be produced and that wildlife (birds, coyotes) will be attracted and spread the waste.

-Security and crime
Some business bring undesirable elements to the area. Liquor or cannabis sales and pawn shops are an example of unacceptable business for a residential street.

The residents who attended the rezoning consultation at the Neighbourhood Church with the city (2019) unanimously voted against rezoning the property at 5335 112 ave to DC2. I hope you will consider our concerns.

Kind regards,
Dainna


Sent from my iPhone

I am conserved for the follow reasons:
1. I don’t know the type of business could be going into the building. It may be a type of business that creates odours, waste (garbage) noise etc.
2. increase traffic in the back alley. Drivers speeding, increased traffic noise.
My address is 5332-111 ave directly across the back alley of the property applying for rezoning.

I am conserved for the follow reasons:
1. I don’t know the type of business could be going into the building. It may be a type of business that creates odours, waste (garbage) noise etc.
2. increase traffic in the back alley. Drivers speeding, increased traffic noise.
My address is 5332-111 ave directly across the back alley of the property applying for rezoning.

Rezoning for small commercial would be great. Help neighbors improve shopping locally, walking or child care options. A small bakery would be ideal!

I live across yeh street and look at this building from my living room window. My husband and I would like to see some sort of local business (retail, coffee, floral etc) shop. Or childcare services operated from this building.

I do not thing a general convince store would be a good idea or the right fit. It’s across the street from an elementary school. Something like a 7-11 would cause more traffic (on an already busy road) and people loitering in an area where children should be safe to play, walk home etc.

Keep this building true to what Highlands prides itself for. Community, local business and a nod to history and heritage.

Would love to see community support like grocery or convenience in that area. I live two blocks away.

I think this is really exciting for the City to consider this and bring to life. It allows for the City Plan to come to fruition, and creating a vibrant neighbourhood. This is all the more relevant after the year we've had (global pandemic) and reinforcing the importance of community and local business.

Having local businesses within a walking distance is a highly attractive and creates a positive community atmosphere within the area. I hope this type of zoning is done much more often around the City.

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I LOVE IT. COULD BE ANOTHER POTENTIAL REASON TO LIVE IN THE HIGHLANDS.

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I am in favour of potential future commercial businesses within walking / cycling distance to me. Who wouldn't want a great cafe, bakery or restaurant close to home??

I am very supportive of this application. I live 2 blocks away and walk by it all the time. The current building is run down, unattractive, often vacant, and dragging down property values. This is the type of project that could help breathe new life into our community by offering small scale amenities which will help attract new residents and families back to our mature neighbourhood, which has experienced population loss over the last 40 years - see school closure across the street from this site. This re-zoning is in-line with the City's goals around 15-minute districts where people can live, work, and play locally. The proposed rezoning does not include any high impact uses and includes several parking stalls at the rear to mitigate parking concerns. The maximum height appears to be kept exactly the same as what currently exists, and in the case that the building is ever demolished and rebuilt, the height, scale, and setbacks seem sensitive to the surrounding low-density nature of adjacent properties. I'd be excited to see a little cafe, studio space, etc.

We would like to – again - express our strong objection to the proposed zoning change to the property at 5335 – 112 Avenue NW. This is, we believe, the fourth time the city has sought community feedback on this same application. Is there not a limit to the number of applications a property owner can make for rezoning? Our feelings about this property have not changed. We feel that such a zoning change would negatively impact the whole neighbourhood for a number of reasons.
1. All homes on this side of112 Avenue are single-family homes and will be adversely affected by a commercial venture of any kind.
2. A bar or pub next door to the existing childcare facility would increase risk to the children being cared for in the home.
3. A bar or a convenience store next to the church would seem to be poor placement of such a venture.
4. Convenience stores already exist on 118 Avenue, easily walkable, just 2 blocks away from the proposed site.
5. Neighbourhood restaurants and pubs already exist, just 10 blocks west of the proposed site, again, easily walkable.
6. Parking in the alley is already congested and an increase in parking traffic would just exacerbate the problem, posing a real danger to all of us who live in the neighbourhood.
We are surprised that this issue has resurfaced yet again. More than 35 neighbours met with city planners in March of 2019 to explain why we were opposed to commercial development on this residential-zoned lot. Not surprisingly, the only person who was in favour of the zoning change was the owner of the property in question. In the spring of 2020, our feedback was again requested and again given, and again, our feelings had not changed. Again, in response to this latest request, our feelings have not changed. We are strongly opposed to the rezoning of the property at 5335 – 112 Avenue. It should remain as RF1.
Yours sincerely,
Linda Ewenson and Harry Sutton

I hope you have familiarized yourself with the previous engagements regarding this issue. I am fully and firmly against any rezoning after having heard the applicants arguments and ideas. Multiple in the neighbourhood did their due diligence when moving in and moved in knowing that building was an RF1 designated building. This block already has a church and that is certainly enough for one residential block. Safety concerns about the increased traffic with a daycare and the church already on the same block were raised at the community consultation and city hall meeting.
Another concern about due diligence is regarding the applicant himself- he stated that he made bad investments due to bad advice he received from a friend/advisor in Calgary- how is it fair that the neighbourhood has to pay for the bad advice that was received from a failure for the applicant to do proper research? His mistake, but for some reason everyone else is expected to pay for it. There are many commercial areas west and south from the proposed site. As mentioned above, this site was envisioned to fit with the feel of the neighbourhood as a residential area since the 1960s. There have been many successful residential redevelopments in the neighbourhood so the argument that a residential rezoning would not work would seem odd. There were no potential commercial services that were enticing, but all would be disruptive.

I would also like to mention that during the community consultation with the city, that the turnout was much larger than expected- I had to help three times in bringing out more chairs- and the reaction was decidedly negative (though despite direct requests from multiple community members, the city representatives were EXTREMELY reluctant to record that the opposition was strong- I have to mention this because I am not sure it was properly recorded. I hope that the mistakes made by the applicant will not be compounded on and that the city will support the existing resident and values of infill etc. Thank you.