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Courtenay council okays secondary suite

A ‘secondary suite’ has been approved for a property at 1986 Fourth St. East.
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A ‘secondary suite’ has been approved for a property at 1986 Fourth St. East.

A public hearing was held June 12 for rezoning from Residential One (R-1) to Residential One S (R1-S) to permit the suite. Nobody showed up at the hearing, so council okayed the rezoning Monday night (June 19).

The applicant, David Regehr, proposes to build a 734 sq. ft. addition to his single family home. The suite would include one bedroom, one bathroom, living room and dining area and a kitchen. The suite will also contain an outdoor patio and storage space.

There are two driveways in the property’s front yard.

The suite has been designed as an addition to the back of the existing dwelling and will retain the ‘cottage-like character’ of the main house. Only the suite’s front entryway will be seen from 4th St. East.

An existing cedar hedge and other landscaping will protect privacy for both the tenant and neighbours.

Council’s policy to-date has been to consider secondary suite rezoning applications on a case-by-case basis.

The city’s affordable housing strategy encourages ‘infill’ development in the form of secondary suites when it complies with land use policies in the Official Commuity Plan.

A public meeting as required was held March 15 by the applicant.

He reported to council that there “was no resistance to the proposal, only minor concerns.”

Concerns were raised about street parking, what type of tenants would be sought, and whether the owners were planning to sell the property.

“On the tenant issue, and a concern that the suite would be rented out to a bunch of teenagers with lots of cars, we pointed out that the suite is designed for a single person, and that with our experience of raising teenagers and hosting foreign students we will be seeking a mature, long term tenant who ‘will respect our neighbours and our quiet enjoyment of our properties’,” wrote Regehr in his report to council.