City lane closed and rezoned at the intersection of 47 Ave & 53 St for the expansion of the Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter (Red Deer city council March 20 presentation)

By Alessia Proietti

Intersection 47 Ave & 53 St

City lane closed and rezoned for expansion of Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter

Mar 24, 2023 | 4:08 PM

A lane at the intersection of 47 Ave and 53 St in Red Deer has been closed and rezoned to facilitate the redevelopment and expansion of the Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter (CAWES).

Red Deer city council gave second and third reading to the Road Closure Bylaw and Land Use Bylaw amendment bylaw at their meeting on Monday. First reading was given on January 23.

Administration said the roughly 670 square metre lane runs along the east and north sides of the CAWES site of addresses 5301, 5313, and 5317 on 47 Ave.

Council previously agreed to sell CAWES a portion of 5321 47 Ave, north of the current site. However, they say 5321 is physically separated from the site by the lane. Administration says the lane only serves CAWES and adjoining City properties.

Context Map – Portions of road proposed to be closed in red. (Red Deer city council agenda March 20, p. 72)

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The initial public hearing was supposed to be held at the February 21 council meeting. However, a letter from nearby resident Nancy Hackett, raised concerns that caused the hearing to be postponed.

Hackett claimed the hearing was not communicated properly in a letter given to nearby residents of the site. She said the letter stated the land proposed for re-designation was “outlined in red on the photo”; however, there was no red coloring, as the print was in black and white ink, and there was only a map shown, not a photograph. She also claimed the map was very small and had various unidentified grey shades representing unknown properties. Lastly, when seeking more information, she said the postcard redirected her to the proposed bylaw regarding Molly Banister on the City website, which provided further confusion.

In her letter, she also suggested other uses for the land such as trail expansion and environmental reserve rather than for private use. Administration said that through an internal referral process, Parks and Public Works did not object to the lane closure or make a request for the land to be used within the trail system.

She says the expansion would put the CAWES property closer to her yard, leading to privacy loss and unwanted shading. She added a concern was an increase in heavy security lighting at night, which she said could be alleviated if the lane is solely used for parking. Administration said the concerns are related to development, rather than lane closure and rezoning, and have already been addressed when the conditional development permit was given in March by the Municipal Planning Commission. Administration says the area will be used for maneuvering, parking and outdoor amenity space.

Administration added that the creek and several mature trees provide a natural screening of the CAWES site from the residential area to the east.

In June 2020, council approved an application from CAWES to rezone the land and the portion north to allow for future expansion.

READ: Council approves rezoning for women’s emergency shelter expansion

CAWES shared their plans to replace and expand its current facility from 40 beds and 16 small rooms, to 48 shelter beds spread out between 24 rooms, in addition to 12 apartments that would be devoted to transitional housing on the second floor. A maximum four-story structure would be permitted on site.

They also said they wanted to add commercial uses to the facility such as daycare, hairdressing, dry cleaning, a massage business, restaurant and merchandise sales. City officials said that liquor, beer or wine sales would be excluded as would other services like industrial goods, motor vehicles, machinery, fuel, retail cannabis, and all uses where the primary focus is adult oriented merchandise or entertainment.

rdnewsNOW reached out to CAWES for an update on the plans but did not hear back in time for publishing.