Lake Country council had an exhaustive discussion over how an apartment/hotel development will fit into the community.
At its Feb. 21 meeting, council gave initial consideration to a four-storey, 30-unit building proposed for 11506 Turtle Bay Court at Woodsdale and Seymour roads.
READ MORE: Lake Country council to look at proposed hotel development
Much of the discussion centred around the use of apartment/hotel under the C9 tourist/commercial zoning.
Several councillors felt that definition of the zoning is too broad and that the function of the building is not clearly defined. Although short-term rentals are not permitted under the zoning, it was also an issue that worried council.
“When we have short-term rental accommodation potentially this property could be sold to 30 individual owners who could then designate it as their primary dwelling and then short term rental each individual property,” said Coun. Cara Reed.
Planning and development staff noted that the C9 definition “needs a lot of clarity.”
Mayor Blair Ireland said that ideally, the district would like to see apartments.
“But we also need tourist accommodation. We have two motels on the side of the highway, we don’t have anything else other than people’s homes.”
Ireland suggested that council get the development ‘in-stream’ and not make the applicant wait and come back and pay again to resubmit the proposal.
Council gave first reading to rezone the property, and also directed staff to bring forward options for further defining use of apart/hotels in the C9 zone.
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@GaryBarnes109
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