An application for leeway to build larger homes on a to-be-subdivided lot in White Rock’s South of Hospital Lands has cleared another hurdle.
A proposed amendment to the RS-7 Single Residential Unit (Residential Infill) Zone bylaw received preliminary approval from council last month.
And at a public hearing on the amendment held Feb. 7, no residents spoke either for or against the application. Eighty notices advising of the opportunity to speak at the hearing had been mailed to area residents.
If passed, the amendment will enable a home with gross floor area of up to 307 square metres (3,300 square feet) to be built on each of two lots that will result from a subdivision of 15561 Goggs Ave. – a change the city’s director of development services Paul Stanton said will have minimal impact on the neighbourhood’s character.
Current zoning allows gross floor area of up to 250 sq.m.
Stanton said the lot in question is among six in the area large enough – greater than 450 sq.m. (4,844 sq. ft.) – to qualify for the rezoning.
However, the current amendment would only apply to the one address, he said.
Stanton told land use and planning committee members Jan. 17 that the application came forward for rezoning within the past 18 months. The lot has not yet been built on, he said.
The proponent asked for leeway on the gross floor area based on the larger width – 12 metres as opposed to nine – of the lots compared to others in the area, Stanton said.
While Coun. Lynne Sinclair expressed concerns at the Jan. 17 meeting that the larger floor area “is going to be out of character” for the neighbourhood, Stanton – demonstrating with illustrations Jan. 24 – assured the difference would be negligible.
“It’s not really going to impact the character,” he told council.
The zoning allows “a little more square footage on a wider lot,” he said.
The bylaw is scheduled to come back to council for final consideration Feb. 21.