On Tuesday, August 17, council denied a rezoning to a Blairmore property that was proposed to be the site of a 24-unit affordable rental housing project, without allowing a public hearing on the proposal.
Bill Bradley, best known as the developer for the long-delayed, financially troubled River Run project, submitted an application to rezone the sales centre property, located next to the Blairmore Legion on the corner of 129th Street and 21st Avenue. The request was to rezone the property from retail commercial to direct control, and Bradley proposed to build 24 affordable rental housing units in a complex to be known as Ravenwood Place.
Bradley said in his application that he has received a letter of intent from a Canadian chartered bank toward the construction of the development, pending municipal approvals. In addition, he said, he would be able to access affordable housing grant money for the project. The rental units, he says, would be available for 10 percent below market value, which qualifies it as an affordable housing project and opens up access to such grants.
He cited the 2009 Affordable Housing Needs Assessment report, completed by a local committee, which shows the need for affordable housing in Crowsnest Pass. Bradley says that the project is completely unconnected to the River Run development.
Council, however, defeated the first reading of a rezoning bylaw, which means that the proposal will not come to public hearing.
"I have a problem with this rezoning," said Councillor Dean Ward. "I'm concerned about what's going to happen here."
He noted that the applicant was requesting that offsite levies be waived for the proposed project, to support the development of affordable housing. Council has previously waived said levies for certain projects, such as the Ironstone development.
Councillor Ward said that he had a problem with the request. "We can't afford to walk away from any dollars," he said.
Councillor Gary Taje, who made a motion to pass first reading, said that he felt council was prejudicing itself by making comments about a rezoning before a public hearing. He said that first reading has always been passed even if there are issues, and that council normally doesn't make a decision until after the public has had a chance to speak at a public hearing, which follows two weeks after a first reading.