It was a close vote at Steinbach City Council as councillors debated whether to allow a duplex on Sterling Crescent to be built closer to the street than normally permitted. By a 4-3 vote, council approved a variance application for 116/118 Sterling Crescent that will let the developer build with a 17-foot front yard setback instead of the required 25 feet. Corner lot brings design challenges The property in question is a corner lot in a new subdivision. Ryan Warkentin, representing Three-Way Builders, explained to council that because of the shape of the lot, the garage design would not fit without a setback adjustment. “The garage for this property with the redesign would line up with all the garages on the duplexes [to the north],” said Warkentin. He added that having a shared central driveway instead of two separate ones would reduce traffic impacts and keep the look consistent with other homes on the street. Differing views from staff City administration gave mixed recommendations. The city planner said the reduced setback could still work within the overall subdivision design, while the city engineer raised concerns. Aaron Rach, the city engineer, noted the proposed driveway length is shorter than a typical car, which could lead to vehicles encroaching into the street. He also cautioned that reducing green space increases stormwater runoff. “By allowing one lot, it sets a precedent for additional requests,” Rach wrote. Councillors split on stormwater, precedent Councillor Jac Siemens made a motion to approve the application and said the corner lot’s odd shape justified the change. “It would line up with the other buildings along Sterling. That looked good,” Siemens explained after the meeting. “If this was denied, they would have to set the building further back. And what that means, they would have to add more concrete.” Siemens said that adding more concrete would mean there would be less ground to absorb water. Deputy Mayor Michael Zwaagstra voted against the request, pointing to stormwater concerns and the risk of setting a precedent. “In this particular case, the report from our city engineer highlighted concerns about losing what is called impervious space and creating a potential for less ability to handle stormwater in the future,” Zwaagstra said. “Considering how flat our city is, I didn’t want to create problems down the road.” Councillor Damian Penner was not concerned about setting precedent, saying applications are handled on a case-by-case basis. “It's very common amongst us on council when there's corner lots that we do have a little bit more leniency with regards to variances.” Mayor Earl Funk opposed the motion, siding with the engineer’s recommendation. He emphasized the importance of maximizing permeable land to manage runoff. The motion was seconded by Counclillor Bill Hiebert who noted, “I took note of something that's in the notes as well, that the driveway is going to be in the middle. And it should fit one car before it reaches the street area. So I think that's reasonable.” Final decision In the end, Siemens’ motion to approve was supported by Councillors Bill Hiebert, Damian Penner, Susan Penner and Siemens himself. Councillors Jake Hiebert, Deputy Mayor Zwaagstra, and Mayor Funk voted against. With a 4-3 tally, the variance was approved.