Please show your support and oppose the purposed BASEMENT SUITES in the approved semi-detached redevelopment on 7119/21- 93 avenue, Edmonton Alberta. 

Ottewell is home to many amazing people - so much that the community, itself, has become an extension of (my) family, and I feel it's safe to say it is family to many others. It's the people of Ottewell that make this neighbourhood one of the best in Edmonton (‘livability’ being ranked at 85% better than other areas in Alberta – as per areavibes.com), a home to many for 10+, 20+, 30+ years. 

As time goes on, more infills are arriving in well-established neighborhoods.  We are all aware of the redevelopments underway in areas like Ritchie/Forest Heights – As such, it only makes sense that Ottewell is the next "up and coming" real estate investment. Furthermore, we recognize that infills do have their advantages.

Nonetheless, I want to bring attention to the 'fine print' of the zoning by-laws...Not only is the vacant property located at 7119/21-93 avenue approved for a new semi-detached -- pushing nearly ALL the limits in the construction bylaw, but it is ALSO approved to ADD 2 SECONDARY BASEMENT SUITES, that can easily be used as ADDITIONAL rental income - making it a 4-home family unit build vs. 2 family dwelling. 

If this build is allowed to proceed, the following is at risk of happening: 

1.     Changing the neighbourhood feel: If allowing 4 suites to be developed inside semi-detached is allowed - the only party that stands to benefit from this proposed development is the developer/investors, not the community we live in.   It becomes a ‘rental/investment’ opportunity vs. the pride of ownership that a permanent- single family dwelling would offer.

2.     Built as an investment vs. to own: The primary reason for this build is to make profit, which brings concern over the quality in the pride of ownership –, that many home owners have in Ottewell.

Although we are in FAVOR of semi-detached dwellings, building this property for the sheer purposes of ‘making a profit’ is alarming. – further changing the attractiveness of our community.

3.     Increased Traffic: Due to the excessively high number of individuals that will be occupying that residence (4 families vs. 2), it only further increases the traffic in the neighbourhood (assuming 4 families have 2 vehicles each – 8 total). Furthermore, this street is a “through” street on school days when many parents are driving to drop their children off at Clara Tyner School and Ottewell School. This naturally results in more traffic through (what we generally know of) our calm streets. Our neighbourhood has a high percentage of children that frequent these schools and walk every morning. Allowing to build this semi-detached (with secondary suites), would increase the traffic in the neighbourhood and ultimately present an unwelcomes safety risk to our children (assuming, more semi-detached homes with secondary streets are allowed to proceed with their plans).

4.     DECREASED Parking: On June 23, 2020 City Council voted to enable Open Option Parking city wide. This allows developers, homeowners and businesses to decide how much on-site parking to provide on their properties based on their particular operations, activities or lifestyle. As this building is, word-for-word, being developed as an INVESTMENT property, it would be assumed that neither the developer or investor care about the amount of parking left to the neighbouring residents – leaving this burden on us. 

5.     Size of the Semi-Detached: The plans show a strong contrast in the size of the home
comparable to neighbouring bungalows (it's about twice the height) – making it inconsistent with the look and vibe of the neighbourhood.

Acceptable Developments
We understand that this land needs to be developed but want to make sure that it's done in a way that maximizes benefit to all stakeholders. We believe the following developments would create the most benefit to all parties involved:

·       Semi-Detached only – no secondary basement suites

·       Single family home (bungalow)

·       Single Family home with one basement suite

 

We are sympathetic to the desire to increase dwelling density to limit urban sprawl but believe this should be accomplished through a more thoughtfully planned approach than what is currently being permitted in the zoning bylaw. We are not opposed to the development of a semi-detached or a single detached house with a secondary suite – but a semi-detached with four potential families in one build is extreme for our neighborhood.

Ensuring Benefit to the Community as a Whole - Not Only One Party

To avoid the negative implications discussed above, we as a community ought to ensure that this development adheres to some common sense standards to guarantee that the neighbourhood and community at large isn't negatively affected.  These standards ought to ensure maximum mutual benefit between existing residents, future residents, the city and the developer.  If this is not possible, the benefit of the developer should not be considered above existing and future residents and building permits should not be issued until a development is proposed that truly is a betterment to the community.

Please show your support and OPPOSE the proposed BASEMENT SUITES in the approved semi-detached redevelopment on 7119/21- 93 avenue, Edmonton Alberta.