(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Alessia Proietti

Day Care Facility, Microbrewery and more

Capstone may soon see flexibility in development regulations

Jan 10, 2023 | 3:26 PM

Red Deer’s Capstone area may soon be seeing more flexibility in its development regulations in an attempt to increase opportunity, the City says.

At their first regular meeting of 2023 on Monday, city council unanimously gave first reading to a Land Use Bylaw (LUB) amendment to the Riverlands (Capstone) Area Redevelopment Plan (ARP). The Flexibility amendment, proposed by city administration, would give the Development Authority the ability to vary all Capstone regulations with the goal to provide additional design options for developers and reduce red tape.

The City says they would like to place focus on Capstone’s “big picture” by asking if a particular development is meeting the overall intent of the vision rather than meeting all of the initial design criteria.

According to the 2016 ARP, the vision’s intent, dating back to 2000, was to develop the area into a pedestrian friendly, mixed-use, and dense neighbourhood that acts as an extension of the downtown. Administration confirmed in September 2022 that no developments have been made in the area since 2016.

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The proposed key changes to the ARP include:

1. Provide the Municipal Planning Commission with the authority to approve height variances rather than requiring developers to apply for a Land Use Bylaw amendment. There is a current two-storey height requirement.

2. Reduce the requirement for the front façade of a building to run along 60 per cent of the frontage rather than the entire length.

3. Add Discretionary Uses for:

• Day Care facility
• Public assembly spaces for gatherings such as religious places of worship, community centres, auditoriums, and convention centres used for charitable, educational or social activities.

4. Add Microbrewery as a Permitted Use for a lively street-oriented vision.

5. Increase Temporary Surface Parking Lots, paved and landscaped, from three to 10 years.

All references to “Riverlands” will also be removed from the LUB and ARP to strictly use the name “Capstone” for consistency.

The City says a public consultation package was mailed out to 105 Capstone landowners and members of the development community. They say three letters were received expressing support, with one adding further suggestions.

“It’s also opportune for us,” said Councillor Victor Doerksen. “Provincially, we kind of stand as an outlier in terms of economic growth. We’ve had a pretty good couple of years so the opportunities are there. People are moving to our province, we’ve got the hospital expansion and the Capstone should figure prominently in some of the spinoff effects from the people we’re going to need to come and work here and live here and we need to be ready and have some stuff available for them.”

A public hearing will be held on Feb. 6, 2023.