Glendale residents fighting for single-family housing on an undeveloped triangle of land left city council angry and disappointed on Monday night.
“I think they have especially failed this neighbourhood,” said Victoria Macpherson, after council voted to allow five single-family homes and 15 duplexes featuring 30 homes. “They should be ashamed.”
Macpherson said she could see no positive impact from introducing duplexes into the small triangular chunk of land where Dentoom’s greenhouse was once located near Taylor Drive and 75th Street.
Neighbours were upset because the original Neighbourhood Area Structure Plan for the site identified it for single-family housing and park space. They strongly opposed an original proposal by developer Ray Watkins to build an apartment with up to 16 units, 10 duplexes and four single-family lots.
Council rejected that proposal last August and Watkins reconfigured his plans.
Macpherson was also critical of the long delays in getting the development proposal back before council for a decision, which worked against residents because council recollections of residents’ key concerns dimmed and an election brought in new councillors.
Watkins, a principal with Edmonton-based G3 Development Services Inc., was pleased with council’s decision and was confident the development will prove a good fit for the area and will improve local property values.
“We think it’s a great project,” he said. “We’re very disappointed residents feel the way they do about it.”
The projected increase in density will add only four or five more houses than a single-family home development, he said.
As part of the new Glendale Northwest Neighbourhood Area Structure Plan, the developer agreed to a land swap with the city to create a park at the north end of the site.
Council voted 6-2 in favour of a pair of bylaw amendments to clear the way for the project. Councillors Tara Veer and Buck Buchanan voted against.
Veer said the previous area structure plan called for single-family housing and neighbours had an expectation that would be how the area was developed. She said the duplex proposal would have been defeated if councillors had voted on it last year when neighbourhood opposition was still fresh in their minds.
Councillor Cindy Jefferies was absent.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com