Red Deer city council has approved closing a lane behind the Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter, which is expanding.
The L-shaped lane-way can now be accessed from 53rd Street and 47th Avenue but will now be closed to the public after the lane was redesignated as a “direct control district.”
These districts are customized land use designations that have to fit a certain criteria of allowable uses and a set of rules.
Earlier this month, Red Deer’s municipal planning commission approved a major expansion at the shelter. It will see 50 shelter beds, 25 one-bedroom units and 15-two-bedroom transitional housing units added.
The shelter’s goal is to support the transition of women at risk and their children who come to the shelter for help back into the community.
The main floor of the facility provides office space and staff accommodation for the triage of services for the women at risk. The facility provides 24/7 care on a rotational basis with skilled staff members. There is currently a daily maximum of 17 staff on-site and the staff size is expected to grow to 22 with the new shelter.
Councillors asked senior planner Orlando Toews about concerns from a neighbour that the four-storey addition could tower over nearby homes that would be affected by lighting spillover.
Toews told council that the proposed building had been moved closer to 47th Avenue and that neighbourhood concerns had been addressed at the planning commission.