Approximately 50 St. Adolphe residents gathered at Pioneer Hall on the evening of Tuesday, June 25 to participate in a special public hearing for the rezoning of a portion of the Tourond Creek development. The developer had requested a change in zoning from Commercial General to Residential General on almost five acres of land just north of the development’s main entrance.

Delegates from Stellar Capital Inc., the Lombard North Group, and Forthright Properties opened the meeting with addresses to council, explaining in full the reason for the rezoning, which would allow the developers to begin work on a series of multifamily units on that site.

At the public hearing, council voted on the rezoning only. The vote was passed with all councillors voting in favour and Mayor Chris Ewen voting against.

Now that it’s been approved, a conditional use hearing will be required down the road for approval of the multifamily development. At the next meeting, an exact site plan, including renderings and layout, will be presented.

This was the second rezoning request by the developers of Tourond Creek. The first, in May 2018, was denied by council when a large contingent of residents voiced concerns over the loss of potential commercial space in the community.

Other concerns were based around the fear of low-cost housing in a high-end development and the potential for three- or more-storey units which could overlook the neighbours’ backyards.

While the developer’s plans hadn’t changed much from the previous attempt, this time their approach was different. In 2018, they applied for a multifamily zoning, which wouldn’t require a conditional use permit, giving them the freedom to build according to the flexibility within the RM’s bylaws. This, they believed, is what caused concern among local residents.

Under this new application, the request for a zoning change to Residential General means that a second application for multifamily units within that zone gives council a stronger voice on the outcome.

“So what’s really different is that this time there is complete control [by council],” said Keith Thiessen of Forthright Properties.

Thiessen went on to explain that when the Tourond Creek Secondary Plan was first created, this parcel of land was intended as Mixed Use, which provides for a combination of multifamily and commercial.

At the time of lot registration, zoning bylaws in the municipality had no Mixed Use options. Council of the day recommended a Commercial General designation, the closest thing the bylaws offered to Mixed Use.

According to those bylaws, Commercial General allows for a variety of uses, including convenience stores, drive-ins, farm supply stores, gas bars, and hotels.

“What this means is that, within the current zoning, a 45-foot high hotel is permitted and therefore wouldn’t require a public hearing,” Thiessen said. “The Residential General zoning has only a few permitted uses: single-family houses, a duplex, park space, and public buildings.”

Thus, he adds, rezoning according to the developer’s current request is considered a downsize and should be viewed as less of a threat to the neighbourhood. There would be less traffic, less noise, fewer smells, and less light pollution.

The various delegates also reminded residents that 6.5 acres of land opposite the section in question is still designated Commercial General and provides ample space for business development even once the community reaches 5,000 residents at Tourond Creek’s full build-out.

Councillor Janine Boulanger inquired as to what the delegates have done to try and promote awareness of the commercial land available in the community.

A representative of Capital Commercial Real Estate suggested there are key factors that retail companies look at before moving into a community. These include the population base, proximity to highway traffic, proximity to the greater market surrounding the community, and co-tendency, which refers to a large box store or grocery store. Having a key business like this in the area attracts the traffic which smaller retailers benefit from.

“The challenge for this site is that we’re going to need an anchor,” the representative said. “We’re going to need something of some size to start the project off. Our approach to this… is to look at that anchor tenant. The key anchor tenant is a grocery store.”

He added that all the key grocery store players have been contacted over the past three years and all came back with the same response: the population is not yet at a level to support a new location in St. Adolphe. National chain restaurants have also been approached, but their response is similar: “Who’s your anchor tenant?”

“We believe that a development such as the multifamily across the street would be incredibly important to entice these people,” he said. “We’re really anxious to have new [growth numbers] that we can present to them, and especially density. That’s another couple of hundred [people] that would be right at their doorstep.”

Council opened the meeting to residents wishing to speak for or against the rezoning application. Four letters were received prior to the meeting in favour of the proposal and three residents appealed to council to approve the application.

“I’ve lived in St. Adolphe for 80-some years,” said Mr. Brodeur. “I was in business for over 50 years. I am very, very pleased to see that someone’s going to come into my community and invest in it… There is six acres left and I hope in my wildest dreams that the six acres will be full [of businesses] in 20 years.”

Five letters were received by council in opposition to the proposal. Another five residents came forward to represent their reasons for objection. Similar to the 2018 public meeting, the sentiments conveyed a concern over the loss of potential commercial space.

“I support the fact that we do need [multifamily housing units] in St. Adolphe,” said resident Robert Doiron. “[But] if you take away this land now, there will be no commercial land left in St. Adolphe.” Doiron added that approval of this rezoning might set a precedent, eventually leading to the other 6.5 acres being rezoned to residential. “I think that if you allow this plan to move forward, the other side of the land needs to be retained as commercial.”