Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) member Don Dwyer wants to make sure developers and residents make every effort to meet bylaw requirements rather than constructing buildings, homes or garages that don't meet the bylaw, then asking for exceptions.He raised that concern during an MPC meeting in the Olds municipal office last Thursday.In one case, a developer asked for a “variance” for a building he plans to construct along 49th Avenue which formerly housed a Shell business. The building wasn't set back far enough according to the bylaw.In the second case, town staff received a request to allow a side yard encroachment for a home in the Highlands.Under the bylaw, the town has the authority to grant exceptions of up to 15 per cent plus or minus the required distance from the property line.“I'm not against relaxations if there are unique situations that warrant it and require it, then that's great. But if it's just a question of ‘yeah, here's the bylaw and it says this, but we know they'll give us 15 per cent.' I guess I just have a small problem with that,” Dwyer said.In the case of the industrial building, Dwyer said it's his understanding the developer plans to construct a building that's 57 feet by 140 feet.Town development officer Carey Keleman said her recollection is the town allowed a variance of only about one or two feet on both the front and the back of the proposed structure.“It was to accommodate the specific size of the building. This parcel does back onto the railway tracks so there is plenty of clearance in that back side, but we did have to abide by CP Rail's setbacks as well and we were well within that,” she said. “Basically we used our 15 per cent variance powers to grant the relaxation.”Dwyer reiterated his point.“It would appear that if it's only a foot or two over, the developer could have just cut the building back a foot or two smaller; would have had a significantly large building,” he said. “Instead of being 57 by 140 it may have been 55 by 140.”He questioned what he said appears to be a willingness by town staff to “just grant the relaxation when we could have said, ‘well, why don't you just meet the bylaw and lose a couple of thousand feet in your huge building and meet the bylaw?'”Director of community services Doug Wagstaff said there were special circumstances that led to the decision.He said town staff do appreciate the need to ensure developers and residents abide by bylaw requirements. When situations warrant, they require applicants to redraw their plans to ensure their developments do adhere to bylaws.However, he said, “the site itself led to a relaxation, because there weren't any other properties affected because it's along the railway.”Also, he said, town staff wanted to work with the developer because it's redeveloping “what we consider to be a brown space into a development that is going to improve both the look and the use of that space along 49th Avenue.”Keleman also said the developer did reduce the size of the building, even to get to its current proposed size.Development officer Jane Archer said the Highlands home also involved special circumstances.“This is a brand new dwelling in the Highlands on a corner lot; we gave them a nine-centimetre relaxation and there's also a big boulevard there,” she said. We didn't see it as an issue. The unique situation would be the corner lot which needs the three-metre setback, instead of the typical 1.5.”In the end, the MPC voted unanimously to accept a development and building permits report.
