City council approves London Road apartment projects
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on January 22, 2025.
Herald photo by Ian Martens
Lethbridge city council voted on Tuesday to approve projects including the construction of a pair of 39-unit apartment complexes on 13 St. S. in vacant lots adjacent to London Road Market.LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
Lethbridge city council voted on Tuesday to approve several projects that were the subject of public hearings on Dec. 10.
Two of those projects which call for the construction of a pair of 39-unit apartment complexes on 13 St. S. were the focus of considerable opposition from a neighbouring grocery store and other area residents concerned with possible parking issues.
The project developer has in its plans parking for 0.5 stalls per unit, a matter which the owners of London Road Market and other property owners feel isn’t enough for all rental units at the two proposed sites.
The location of one unit is located on the parcels of land at 537, 539 and 543 13 St. S. The other proposed building is situated at 524, 528 and 532 13 St. S. Both parcels are presently vacant.
While Bylaw 6460, an amendment to the London Road Area Redevelopment Plan regarding 524, 528 and 532 13 St. S., passed unanimously, land use bylaw amendment 6461 was only approved by a 3-2 margin.
The project by the same developer of the site consisting of 537, 539 and 543 13 St. S. was also approved by the same 3-2 margin.
Councillors Ryan Parker and Rajko Dodic along with acting mayor Jeff Carlson, who had recused themselves from debate during the Dec. 10 public hearings on the proposals, also recused themselves from Tuesday’s votes leaving a minimum quorum of five council members to vote on the projects.
Councillors supporting the project acknowledged the concerns expressed by area residents but cited a need for more housing options in the city. Councillor Belinda Crowson noted that communities in North America that have removed parking minimums for housing projects have seen housing built quicker than in other communities.
She said, however, the projects aren’t a perfect solution to the housing shortage here and she isn’t blind to concerns of neighbours.
Deputy mayor Nick Paladino while stating his opposition to Land Use Bylaw amendment 6461 said he had concerns about the height of the proposed buildings and the shadows that would be cast on neighbouring buildings as well as the lack of parking that will be available.
In a recent interview with The Herald, Kendal Hachkowski, managing director of developer Sumus Property Group, said he feels the projects will enhance the neighbourhoods and that the company has made efforts to mitigate concerns about those projects and a similar one proposed for 510 6 Ave. S., the site of the old Alberta Meat Market.
With the projects located on major transit routes, the apartments are geared towards those who don’t need vehicles and each building will have main floor interior bicycle parking for up to. 77 per unit.
And the height of the buildings – another source of controversy among residents – is being reduced from six stories to five with parts of the buildings facing existing residential housing having setbacks of three stories.
Plans also have eliminated all main floor windows that face residential buildings.
Council also voted to approve another development planned for 404 and 408 12 St. S. That project involved a request to rezone properties at those locations to Direct Control to allow for their consolidation and the development of 12 dwelling units to appear as four townhouses with secondary suites and a fourplex.
A report to council in December says the properties are situated on the periphery of the London Road Neighbourhood and are within walking distance to downtown. They are situated in a mixed-use area of the London Road Area Redevelopment Plan with the area acting as a transition between the public and institutional uses of the Civic Centre block to the west and the residential nature of the neighbourhood to the east.
At a July open house last year, property owners had concerns about the impacts of street parking with the report saying the applicant explained there will be as much off-street parking as possible.
Crowson opposed the project expressing concern that one of the houses to be demolished dates back to the 1890s and is only one of about15 such homes of that era still in existence here.
Council gave unanimous approval to another proposed housing project, however. It voted in favour of Bylaw 6464 – Amendment to London Road Area Redevelopment Plan regarding 605 5 St. S. And 510 6 Ave. S. and Bylaw 6465, a land use bylaw amendment for those same properties where Sumus is planning to construct a building similar to the ones planned for 13 St. S.
Crowson noted that while the old Alberta Meat Market building dates back to the 1920s she could live with its demolition because of the new housing that will be created downtown.
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O.5 stalls per unit on site means about 50 cars spilling out to the neighbouring streets. That ought to be a welcome disruption. What’s best is the taxpayer’s money Council has gifted this business.
Makes you wonder. Three leave the room. Have to wonder what that is all about.
yup – very often because they or family have an economic bonanza to reap from a project being approved. classic city hall; classic govt
imagine the great game that will be getting out of the parking space and into traffic.
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6th ave s and 13 st s are already an emerging traffic debacle. the decision will of course foment rather than mitigate traffic.
to heck with what the small player needs, too, as london road market gets shunted to make way for the pocket lining to move ahead.
of course, there are very many home owners now to be ever more adversely impacted: traffic, noise, pollution, property devalued, are some of the issues.
so much empty space downtown…not far from the white elephant bus depot/parkade…but, shucks, why shore up downtown and create some affordable units in doing so.
This decision can’t help but invite a George Carlin comment:
““But there’s a reason. There’s a reason. There’s a reason for this, there’s a reason education sucks, and it’s the same reason that it will never, ever, ever be fixed. It’s never gonna get any better. Don’t look for it. Be happy with what you got. Because the owners of this country don’t want that. I’m talking about the real owners now, the real owners, the big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought and paid for…the city halls…and they own all the big media companies so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls. They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying, lobbying, to get what they want. Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I’ll tell you what they don’t want: They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. That’s against their interests. That’s right…The table is tilted folks. The game is rigged, and nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. Good honest hard-working people — white collar, blue collar, it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on — good honest hard-working people… The [owners] don’t care about you at all — at all — at all. And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. That’s what the owners count on…” ― George Carlin
great entry – thanks, imo.
flipping it around, it is precisely the system that trump and the gross line up of oligarchs wish to further entrench.
and, it’s why i say, it is a far wiser message to x-out one’s ballot than it is to sign off on what has emerged as an illegitimate system.
I don’t live in the London Road area but the 0.5 parking per unit does seem too low and will cause congestion on the surrounding streets. I see each unit having at least one vehicle and some two or three.
and such an intelligent thought, which will have been shared ahead of the decision by the many stakeholders that will be adversely impacted. but, as is too often the case with govt, the decisions are typically made before the process begins.