Redcliff council sets minimum home sizes, bans front driveways near school in new subdivision

Redcliff council shaped the rules that will govern its next residential subdivision on Monday, agreeing during a regular council meeting to prohibit front-attached garages and driveways on lots facing the school site in the Eastside Subdivision Phase 2 development, and to set minimum home sizes lower than those applied to Phase 1.

The 28-lot single-family subdivision is near completion of the endorsement process, and the development officer told council the restrictive covenants must be drafted and registered on title before endorsement can proceed.

The covenants, once registered, bind every current and future owner of each lot and cannot be changed without the agreement of all affected homeowners.

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Council reached broad consensus on a minimum of 900 square feet for a bungalow, down from the 1,000-square-foot floor set in Phase 1. For a two-storey home, the minimum would be 1,300 square feet in total, with at least 800 square feet on the main floor and 500 on the upper floor, compared with a 1,400-square-foot minimum in Phase 1.

Mayor Chris Czember opened the question, suggesting 950 and 1,350 square feet, while councillors, including Coun. Larry Leipert settled on the lower figures. "So, it sounds like we got fairly good consensus around 9 and 13?" the mayor said during Monday's council meeting, referring to 900 and 1,300 square feet.

Coun. Larry Leipert said he was comfortable with the lower threshold. "I think that you can live in a 900 square-foot house," Leipert said during Monday's council meeting. Coun. Bradie Burns said he lives in a 935-square-foot house without difficulty.

The most contentious question was whether lots fronting the street across from the school should be allowed to have front-attached garages or driveways at all. The mayor raised the issue directly. "So then the other big question I had in my mind is, I don't think people should be backing up onto that road out of their garage or out of their driveway," the mayor said during Monday's council meeting. "At the end of the day, it's right across the street from the school. Should people be backing out onto that street?" Coun. Larry Leipert interjected: "Blindly."

Council discussed applying the restriction only to lots facing the school while permitting front garages on lots along 9th Avenue. "Could we make a restrictive covenant for this area and say 9th Avenue can have them, but the rest can't?" the mayor said. "Because I'm fine if they have a front garage there, but not in front of the school."

Coun. Dwight Kilpatrick said the road's future traffic volumes complicated the question. "I don't know when you need a 4-lane road versus a 2-lane road and parking," Kilpatrick said during Monday's council meeting. "That's the shitty part. You make it 2-lane, and people start parking, and now you're clogged. 4-lane, even if they park, you still got a lane."

Council also agreed to drop several aesthetic requirements carried over from Phase 1, including a rule that at least 15 per cent of the front elevation be clad in stone or brick. The requirement for a full basement was removed as well, allowing slab-on-grade construction. The mayor noted that ranch-style homes serve buyers with mobility needs, while Kilpatrick observed that a basement amounts to free square footage once the house is built.

Councillor Bradie Burns pushed back on the overall scope of the covenants, questioning whether the detail was warranted given that a development permit is required regardless. "I want Redcliff to become more of a place where it's not just retirement and people who can afford to come live here, right?" the councillor said during Monday's council meeting. "I'd like to see some people come and get their foot in the door. You know, for a guy like me getting into that $200,000 range, like, you're not getting a place in Redcliff." The mayor said the average sold home in Redcliff is currently $412,000 and that brand-new homes in the subdivision would likely exceed that figure.

Shannon Simon, the town's municipal manager, also raised the possibility of a sunset clause that would allow the covenants to expire after a set period — 25 years was mentioned — rather than running with the land indefinitely. Council did not reach a decision on that point during Monday's meeting.

The covenants must be drafted and registered before the subdivision can be formally endorsed.