APPROVED

As to Form ______

City Solicitor

As to Content ______

Head of Department

Bylaw No. 12205

Closure of a portion of 45 Avenue Government Road Allowance,

located west of 183A Street, Donsdale

______

WHEREAS the Municipal Council of the City of Edmonton may pass a Bylaw for the purpose of closing any road provided that the bylaw is advertised and any person who claims to be affected prejudicially by the bylaw, or their agent, has been given an opportunity of being heard by City Council in relation to the proposed Bylaw; and

WHEREAS City Council has considered the proposed closing and has agreed that it is in the public interest to pass this Bylaw;

NOW THEREFORE the Municipal Council of the City of Edmonton, duly assembled, enacts as follows:

1. All that portion of road, generally as shown on Schedule "A" described as follows:

Meridian 4 Range 25 Township 52

All that portion of the government road allowance, adjoining the SE ¼ 17-52-25-4, lying east of a line drawn across the said road allowance from the north west corner of Parcel A, Plan 2298 KS to the south east corner of Road Plan 762 2318 and west of a line drawn from the northeast corner of said Parcel A to the south east corner of the SE ¼ 17-52-25-4.

EXCEPTING THEREOUT ALL MINES AND MINERALS

IS HEREBY CLOSED.

2/3

2. When title or titles are created for the former portion of road as described in Section 1 of this Bylaw, it is understood and agreed that such title or titles for the former portion of road may be issued excepting Mines and Minerals, the City however, reserving the right to the said Mines and Minerals if in fact the City is the owner thereof.

READ a first time this day of , A.D. 2000;

READ a second time this day of , A.D. 2000;

READ a third time this day of , A.D. 2000;

SIGNED and PASSED this day of , A.D. 2000.

THE CITY OF EDMONTON

______

MAYOR

______

CITY CLERK

3/3 SCHEDULE “A”

12205_SCHEDULE A.pdf

DESCRIPTION: AMENDMENT TO THE Donsdale Neighbourhood Structure Plan; DONSDALE

LAND USE BYLAW AMENDMENT from AG(Agricultural) District, A(Metropolitan Recreation) District, and RR(Rural Residential) District, to DC5(Site Specific Development Control) District, A (Metropolitan Recreation) District, and AP(Public Parks) District; DONSDALE

PROPOSED CLOSURE of 45 Avenue Government Road Allowance Located Between 183A Street on the East and 184Street on the West; DONSDALE

LOCATION: South of Lessard Road, north of Wedgewood Ravine, east of 184Street, and west of 183A Street

LEGAL

DESCRIPTION: A portion of SE 17-52-25 W4, Parcel A, Plan 2298 KS, and a portion of road to be closed by Bylaw No. 12205

APPLICANT: Stantec Consulting Ltd.

10160 – 112 Street

Edmonton, AB T5K 2L6

OWNER: Reid Built Homes, Wendal Holdings Ltd., Inside Outside Developments Inc., and S. Wolanski

ACCEPTANCE OF

APPLICATION: August 24, 1999

EXISTING

DEVELOPMENT: Vacant and undeveloped except for one single family residential dwelling and a rural roadway

PLANNING AND

DEVELOPMENT

DEPARTMENT’S

RECOMMENDATION: That Bylaw No.12203 to amend the Donsdale Neighbourhood Structure Plan be REFUSED on the basis that a top-of-bank road has not been provided in the amendment area as required by “TopofBank Road” policy approved by Council in 1985.

That Bylaw No.12204 to amend the Land Use Bylaw from AG(Agricultural) District, A(Metropolitan Recreation) District, and RR(Rural Residential) District, to DC5(Site Specific Development Control) District, A(Metropolitan Recreation) District, and AP(Public Parks) District be REFUSED on the basis that it is contingent on the NSP amendment which cannot be supported at this time.

That Bylaw No. 12205 to close a portion of 45 Avenue Government Road Allowance located between 183A Street on the east and 184 Street on the west, be APPROVED for First and Second Readings. Third Reading to be withheld until such time that there is a redistricting for the closure area and adjacent parcels that can be supported by Council.

DISCUSSION

1. The Application

The purpose of these applications is to develop an “ageing in place” senior citizen housing project on a 10 hectare parcel in Donsdale. The property currently owned by a number of different parties, is to be sold to “Touchmark Living”, and developed in stages over a five to ten year period. To achieve this development, an amendment to the Donsdale Neighbourhood Structure Plan (NSP), an amendment to the Land Use Bylaw, and a Road Closure Bylaw are required.

The proposed amendment to the NSP will accommodate an institutional land use in center of the site. It will change the size and configuration of the low and medium density housing areas. It will also increase the density for medium density housing from 30 units per hectare to 60 units per hectare, and change the built form of medium density housing to accommodate 3 storey apartments. The proposed plan will relocate the proposed pedestrian/bicycle walk through the centre of the site to the south boundary of the site, at the top of the Wedgewood Ravine.

The proposed redistricting is intended to allow for the development of a seniors facility which will provide multi levels of care. The development will include up to 74 units of low density one storey semi-detached housing around the perimeters of the site, three storey apartment housing to a maximum of 280 units in the center of the site as well as an extended medical treatment facility to provide full time nursing care for up to 96 residents. The proposed redistricting will rezone the south-east corner of the site for a public park. The Donsdale NSP requires that a park be provided in this location. The applicant will submit a subdivision application, which will dedicate this portion of the site as Municipal Reserve, as well as dedicate Environmental Reserve adjacent to Wedgewood Ravine.

Currently the 45 Avenue Government Road Allowance runs through the middle of the site. This road is developed to rural standards. Closure is required to consolidate the area to be redistricted, and allow development on the site.

2. Site and Surrounding Area

Currently the subject site is vacant and undeveloped except for a single family dwelling on the northeast corner of 45 Avenue and 183A Street. Two arterial roadways bound the site, Lessard Road on the north and 184 Street on the west. Wedgewood Ravine borders the property on the south, and single family residential development is proposed to the

east. The area to the north of the site, across Lessard Road in the Dechene neighbourhood, is zoned for commercial shopping center development. The area to the west, across 184 Street, in the Wedgewood Heights neighbourhood is zoned and developed for single family housing. The area to the east is part of the Donsdale Plan and will be developed for low-density residential use.

View of site looking southeast across Lessard Road at 184 Street.

ANALYSIS

1. Compliance with Approved Plans and Land Use Compatibility

The existing Donsdale NSP indicates that this area be developed for medium density housing adjacent to Wedgewood Ravine and 184 Street, and low density housing be developed to the east, adjacent to single family development in the Donsdale neighbourhood. The medium density development could be up 30 units per hectare and up to 4 stories in height. Medium density housing is to take the form of row and stacked row housing, but not walk-up apartments. The existing plan requires that there be a pedestrian/bicycle access through the center of the site connecting to 184 Street. The existing NSP does not have an institutional component.

The proposed amendment to the NSP changes the size and configuration of the medium density housing. The current NSP accommodates 4.1 ha of medium density housing where as the proposed NSP will accommodate 4.9 ha of medium density housing. The low density housing in this area has been reduced from 5.9 ha to 4.5 ha, and .6 ha of institutional use has been added. Under the proposed plan amendment the medium density and institutional component is located in the center of the site, surrounded by low density residential uses. This is an acceptable and even desirable arrangement if the entire site is to be developed as a senior citizen housing project. Adjacent areas of single family development will be less visually impacted by the medium density development as the low density component of the project interfaces directly with existing and proposed single family housing. Access to the medium density development will be from Lessard Road and from 183A Street on the east, which has minimal impact on future single family development. The height of the medium density and institutional development will be limited to three storeys, thus reducing the visual impact and maintaining a scale that is more compatible with low-density housing.

The proposed increase of the medium density component from 30 units to 60 units per hectare is still only half of the density allowed in a conventional RA7(Low Rise Apartment) District, which allows 125 units per hectare. The number of medium density units will be increased from 123 to 280 to be accommodated in a 3 storey apartment built form. This does not include the institutional component, which will accommodate an additional 96 sleeping units.

The existing NSP accommodates 81.5% low density and 18.5% medium density housing. The proposed plan amendment will result in a low and medium density housing mix of 65% low density and 35% medium density in the neighbourhood overall. This complies with the Neighbourhood Density Guidelines approved by City Council, which states that between 15% and 35% of housing should be medium density, and between 65% and 85% should be low density housing. If the 96 units of institutional housing were to be included in the density calculations, the percentage of medium density housing would exceed the Neighbourhood Density Guidelines approved by Council. However the Extended Medical Service facility proposed on the site is clearly defined as an institutional use in the Land Use Bylaw, and has therefore been excluded from the residential density calculations.

While the number of units for this area will increase under the proposed NSP amendment and the proposed amendment to the Land Use Bylaw, the expected population for the neighbourhood will decrease, due to the lower number of persons per unit in the senior citizen facility. The proposed development scenario will therefore not increase the traffic impacts anticipated under the existing approved NSP.

NASP/99-0006

BYLAW NO. 12203

LUB/99-0074

BYLAW NO. 12204

LC/99-0025

BYLAW NO. 12205

DONSDALE

The regulations of the proposed DC5 District have included 240 parking stalls for the institutional and apartment development. Under the Land Use Bylaw, 60 stalls would be required for the institutional use, assuming the institutional component is about 60,000 square ft., leaving 180 stalls for 280 apartment units. Under the Land Use Bylaw, 280 apartment units may require up to 420 stalls (1.5 per 2-bedroom unit). However, for senior citizen apartments, only 1 parking stall is required for every four units. The 280 units would therefore only require 70 parking stalls. The parking provisions proposed for apartment development in the DC5 District do not meet the requirements for standard apartments but exceed the requirement for senior citizen housing.

There has been some relaxation to yard requirements on the periphery of the site. This is acceptable given the orientation of the development to the interior, the provision of community and public amenity space in the center of the site and along the Wedgewood Ravine and recognition of the fact that the development will be occupied by seniors who may have less requirement for private yard space.

The DC5 district does not apply to the area immediately abutting the Wedgewood Ravine. A portion of this area is zoned A and the remaining portion will be zoned A as part of this application. The exact dimensions and development of this area will be further defined by a subdivision application, and these lands will be dedicated as Environmental Reserve.

There is concern from the Planning and Development Department, Transportation and Streets Department, and Community Services Department, that a top-of-bank road along the south boundary, adjacent to Wedgewood Ravine is not planned as part of this development. The existing NSP for Donsdale indicates that a top-of-bank road could be provided at this location and the provision of a top-of-bank road should be determined at the time of subdivision. The imminent development of this site means that the decision to provide a top-of-bank road should be made as part of this application.

Council’s approved “ Top-of-Bank Public Road Policy” indicates that a top-of-bank road shall be provided, for the purpose of maintaining public access and open space next to the river valley and ravine systems, unless it can be demonstrated that reasons such as soil and slope instability, conflicts with major pipelines or utility corridors, or the existence of topographic features such as promontories or spurs of land, would preclude reasonable development of a top-of-bank road. In these cases a 7.5 meter upland setback is required to provide public access.

The Planning and Development Department has requested that the applicant include a top-of-bank road in the NSP amendment. The applicant has indicated that a 7.5m setback with a top-of-bank walk/bicycle access will be provided, but a top-of-bank road