Future Red Deer neighbourhoods could have a different visual aesthetic, with a street view that takes in the entire home, instead of mostly a prominent attached garage.
Council approved first reading of a land use bylaw for three new neighbourhoods that stipulates that front-facing attached garages can’t be built closer to the street than the residences they are connected to.
This means in Timberlands North, Evergreen, and a yet-unnamed residential area east of Rosedale, the garages can’t stick out past a home’s living space. According to images presented by the city, if a house is slightly recessed, its front porch must still be flush with the front of the garage.
“The home can’t be behind the garage,” explained the city’s senior planner Dayna Facca.
She noted some of the existing residential neighbourhoods with prominent attached garages have been very popular, but a newer planning model is being sought as a standard for these three future neighbourhoods.
Not everybody likes seeing a row of front attached garages, with the living portion of the homes barely visible from the road. “It’s thought that there’s a better look and feel if you don’t have garages sticking out,” she explained.
However, this doesn’t mean the other model will be phased out. Facca said, “This is just one residential district out of many.”
Some of the other changes being proposed for these new neighbourhoods is that side yards be reduced to 1.25 metres from 1.5 metres, and that wider garages be allowed, as long as 40 per cent of the space over the garage be developed into living area.
A public hearing on these bylaw changes will be held on July 9.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com
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