ST. PAUL – During the monthly Public Works meeting on Nov. 30, County of St. Paul council discussed some potential Land Use Bylaw (LUB) amendments presented by administration.
Among the proposed amendments included amending the definition of a “Recreational Vehicle Park” for clarity.
Recreational Vehicle Park, under the LUB, is currently defined as a parcel of land, which may include a campground, where more than one recreational vehicle is located. Administration proposed that this be changed to “three or more recreational vehicles,” instead of “more than one.”
Chelsey Cartron, planning and development officer, explained there are no other proposed changes in the portion of the bylaw, except for the wording of the definition. It would “help people understand that if they have three recreational vehicles or more on their lot, they have created a recreational vehicle park," she said.
Coun. Dale Hedrick asked what this change would mean for residents. If somebody owns a lake lot and wanted three RVs on the lot, for example, then what process would they have to go through to be allowed those three RVs, he questioned.
Gary Buchanan, the County’s Planning and Development consultant, explained people would have to apply to rezone to a Recreation Vehicle (RV) District, which will be another process of its own.
Buchanan explained that RV parks are only permitted in RV Districts, and they are not described as either permitted or discretionary use in residential districts. This means people would have to remove their RV on a lot that is not an RV District if they have three or more.
“Right now, [for residential districts] we allow you to have two [RVs] and we’ve been fairly strict about two being the maximum,” Buchanan said. He reiterated the change in the wording of the definition only clarifies that an RV Park is a parcel of land where three or more RVs are located.
Hedrick asked for the reason behind the proposed amendment.
Reeve Glen Ockerman said one reason is to avoid turning a parcel of land into a campground, for example, which may create issues around wastewater and traffic.
Hedrick suggested that instead of limiting the number of RVs, what it should come down to is the type of RV on the lot. “I think... by not allowing more of these, we’re deterring more people from wanting to come up and buy lake lots,” he said.
Removing CR1 from accessory building restriction
Another proposed amendment is removing the accessory building restriction from County Residential One (CR1). CR1 Districts are where multi-lot country residential developments may take place.
The current bylaw allows one accessory building not exceeding 150 square feet on CR1 Districts without a principal dwelling – a residential house, for example. “We have found that we often have to grant variances because of this restriction, and it doesn't seem to have really achieved what it was created to do,” said Amanda Antwi-Nsiah, a planning and development officer with the County.
Antwi-Nsiah said staff feel that the restriction fits well with the purposes for the General Urban (U) District instead, proposing that the restriction be instead placed there. The purpose of U Districts is to provide the “continued viability and orderly infilling of urban type development in the District,” according to the County’s LUB.
Buchanan explained this is meant to limit the number of accessory buildings on a lot without a principal dwelling.
Page Wire Fencing
Another proposed amendment to the LUB is allowing the use of page wire fencing in all land use districts. “We feel that page wire is a type of fencing that’s often used even in towns and cities, and we believe it should be permitted,” said Antwi-Nsiah.
Page wire fences usually is a flexible and durable mesh that is typically used for containing livestock.
If passed, this would mean that barbed wire fences will only be permitted in Agriculture and Industrial/Commercial Districts, unless the Development Authority issues a permit.
Basement Suits and Garage Suits
Currently, under the Land Use Bylaw, only one dwelling unit is usually allowed on a piece of land, however, there are exceptions. The Development Authority can permit a second dwelling unit under specific conditions, like being on a large lot, meeting setback requirements, having access to services, and more.
Administration suggested including garage suites, basement suites, surveillance suites, or a portion of a work camp, as additional types of second dwelling units that the Development Authority can issue a development permit for.
Antwi-Nsiah explained that the proposed change clarifies that garage suites, basement suites, surveillance suites, or parts of a work camp are all allowed as second living units on a lot, even if the general rule is to have only one dwelling unit on a parcel of land.
Following more discussions of other proposed amendments to the LUB, Coun. Louis Dechaine made a motion to accept the proposed amendments as information, and that the amendments for first reading be presented at an upcoming council meeting. The motion was carried.
Council will be sending revisions, ideas, or changes they would like made to administration.
