Niverville council has approved several variances, paving the way for a new development on the town's west side. 

A public hearing was held Tuesday morning, in Niverville, where representatives from Prairie Sky Properties explained their request for a variance to the front, rear and side yards of homes to be built along Fairway Drive, west of the railway tracks, right off the first fairway of the Old Drover’s Run golf course.  

C.A.O. read the variance request to those present.  

"Therefore, be it resolved that Council approves variation B17-23 as amended to allow for reduced record set back from 30 feet to no less than 25 feet in a reduced rear yard, set back from 25 feet to no less than 16 feet 6 inches, (that's the amendment part), and to reduce the north-side yard setback and south-side yard setback to no less than 7 feet 6 inches on the sides for the properties, civically known as 11.15.19 and 23." 

Jeremy Braun from Prairie Sky Properties made a short presentation to council, explaining the variance requests and answered questions from the room.  

Councilor Nathan Dueck inquired about available parking spots for homeowners, as this has been an issue in other development plans.  

Braun says this should not be a problem with their design plans. He noted that, “Homes will have wide driveways to fit four vehicles, plus a double-car garage. So, we’re not really worried about traffic or parking.”

He noted that the homes would be built closer to the street to allow for a deeper backyard. “We'd love to keep these homes closer forward than too close to the fairways.”    

Braun says the lots are a minimum of 36-feet wide, “Which is actually very close to the width of a typical single-family house, and so that's why there might be some allowance for the7 ½ -foot side-yard compared to 15 because there's already double the space that people have on the street compared to what a typical row house would be. So, although it is a row house, you know, by definition, it's double the width of what the typical ones would be, and probably what the current bylaw is set up for.” 

Another concern brought up by Councilor Dueck with the side-yard variance request of 7 ½ foot side-yard was, "How do we handle things like updates to the backyard landscaping? I realized that we can always crane things over buildings, using a hot tub as an example. Is it buyer beware? At the end of the day, if somebody is buying one of these landlocked properties, that maybe they have to spend $1,000 to transport stuff to their backyard because the access from the golf course may not always be available." 

To this concern, Braun notes, “So one thing we're doing is, we're fully finishing these properties. There will be concrete driveways, all the landscaping is done, decks will be built. There will be access to the backyards, via gates. It’s as simple as knocking on your neighbor's door and getting permission to go through the side.” 

CAO of Niverville, Eric King also took time to raise questions from the town’s departments.

First, he noted that having the front yard 25-feet from the street was no problem, as there are other developments in Niverville with the same frontage and said that this variance request isn't the first one to come across his desk in recent years.   

King says, “This may be an anomaly in the zoning bylaw right now. 25-feet is what everything in the 5th, and in the Highlands is set at.” 

He noted other developers have been asking to build closer to the street than the current by-law is requiring which is 30-feet. King suggested that council may be starting to set a precedent of 25-foot frontage. 

He noted that the 30-foot frontage bylaw had be in place since 2018 and was referring to a 1-car garage home, with 10-foot-wide driveway. King said that the reason the home needed to be set-back that distance from the street, was to allow more vehicles to park on the driveway, rather than on the street. 

After some more discussion, it was decided to bring up the zoning bylaw at the next meeting of council. Other concerns were regarding sidewalks and proximity to the golf course. 

Mayor Myron Dyck recapped the 20-minute public hearing and said, “So, the front yard, no issue. The side yard, no issue. The rear yard with the amendment seems to be workable between the parties so, I call for the question. All in favor. That is unanimous and carried.”

Prairie Sky Properties and Sunset Estates have been approved to develop the land on the west side of Fairway Drive in Niverville. 

 

Fairway Drive development in Niverville

 

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