OLDS — Two lots in East Olds, formerly owned by Habitat For Humanity Central Alberta have been rezoned from general residential to medium density residential.
That rezoning will allow for construction of multi-unit dwellings such as multiplexes or apartment buildings.
A process is underway to revert ownership of the lots, located at 4830 52nd St. from Habitat For Humanity Central Alberta back to the Town of Olds.
They will be consolidated into one lot and offered for sale with the asking price of $150,000.
The Town of Olds' council made the decision during its May 12 meeting following a public hearing.
The town's chief administrative officer, Brent Williams, said Habitat For Humanity is getting out of the business of building homes in Olds.
"Should the opportunity present itself for Habitat Southern Alberta to continue providing affordable housing to families in Olds, we will continue our efforts. We remain committed to serve the half dozen families in Mountain View area who are partnered with Habitat, including the town of Olds," Mira Monagen, vice-president of programs for Habitat For Humanity Southern Alberta wrote in an email.
“This rezoning would align with the East Olds area redevelopment plan that pertains to the area that the lots are in,” development officer Kyle Sloan told council.
“There is no proposed development at this time. It is just to bring the lots into alignment.”
Sloan told council that notice of the public hearing was advertised in the Albertan, on the town website and circulated to adjacent property owners.
“The town has received no written correspondence regarding the proposed bylaw,” he said.
During the public hearing, no one spoke in favour or against the bylaw.
Only one member of the public, Ken Dawonik, spoke; a man who owns property adjacent to the lots.
Dawonik said he is neither opposed or in favour of the plan, just wondered what effect the change would have on parking in the area “because there's not a lot of parking available for any inhabitants there.”
He said he owns the building next door and leases it to a business which continually has problems with people parking in areas meant for customers.
Municipal planner Kyle Sloan said since no development is currently planned for that land he can’t say how much parking would be required to be made available for the lot, but noted that parking would be provided on the lot, not the street.
“It would depend on the development that is being proposed,” he said.
Sloan said minimum regulations would require two parking stalls per dwelling for a multiplex or 1.75 parking stalls for an apartment.
Stalls required can range from one stall for a one-bedroom development and one-and-a-half stalls for a two-bedroom development.
A developer could also pay the Town of Olds $5,000 per stall that they don’t provide. The municipality generally uses that money to create parking stalls in the area.
“It could very well be up for sale for a long time. You don't have the potential buyers,” Dawonik said.
“Correct, it has not been sold to anyone else, so it could be for sale for a while,” Williams replied.
“Alright, so I'll just have to contend with that. It's been a continuous problem with parking there anyway,” Dawonik said.
The rezoning initially came up for discussion during council’s May 5 committee of the whole meeting.
At that time, Coun. Darren Wilson asked how the sale will be undertaken.
“This isn't like a reserve bid auction process, or is it? Or it will be listed with multiple real estate listing at an ask of $150,000 and we could get into a bidding war and get more,” he asked.
“Hopefully that's a possibility. Yeah, it's going to be listed, not with the real estate agent, but real estate agents are encouraged to reach out, and we could discuss what that looks like, but it's just first-come-first-serve,” Williams said.
He said as per council policy and the province’s Municipal Government Act, the Town of Olds has set the price at the $150,000 level because that’s been determined to be fair market value for the land.
“If we have a couple people that come with the same offer, will you re-evaluate that, to open that, to take the highest offer,” mayor Judy Dahl asked.
“Essentially, yes, yeah, the highest offer,” Williams said.
