Following a public hearing, Steinbach City Council has approved an application to Rezone 78 First Street for medium density development.

Mayor Earl Funk says the owner of the lot also just built a 10-unit building at 70 First Street which is right next door. He notes the developer now wants to build a carbon copy of the building at 78 First Street and combine the properties but to do so the lot needed to be rezoned from low to medium density.

Four local residents attended the public hearing and expressed opposition to the rezoning proposal and one letter of opposition was also submitted. Funk says most of the concerns were related to traffic.

"We have areas where we have approved RMD all over the city and we have much higher density in those areas than we do on First Street with what we have approved so far so when you look at that, those roads seem to be handling all that traffic, I can't see why First Street can't handle it either."

In addition, Funk says the developer has taken great care to make sure the parking lot for this building is big enough that cars can turn around and don’t have to back onto the street.

Other concerns brought up by residents include the changing nature of the neighbourhood and a lack of affordable housing in Steinbach.

Developer Edwin Pankratz presented to council before the public hearing and noted he has done what he can to make sure the buildings don’t infringe on the privacy of neighbours and noted this area is good for multi-family housing with a small park located right next door.

Councillor Jac Siemens seconded the motion to approve re-zoning but did note the city may need to revisit their community plan for the area.

"We had all agreed in the plan that multi-family would be on the north side and on the south side would be single-family development. Critical to this is that the homes on First Street are starting to need to be replaced. The struggle is it is unaffordable to remove the homes and put single-family homes on those lots. So, city council, approved now, for the second time, a multi-family development on First Street. I think the city needs to take a step back and take a look at that community plan."

Siemens says the city plan should reflect what is actually happening in an area. He notes the plan is a tool for the city and developers, but it is also a tool for the people looking to buy a house and those people should know what type of neighbourhood they are buying into.

Council gave the rezoning bylaw second and third reading so the developer can move forward with their plans.