Prince George city council will consider amending several restrictive covenants on residential properties at its Monday, Jan. 13 meeting.
Three of the applications are from L&M Engineering on behalf of Kidd Real Estate Holding Ltd.
At 8777 Foothills Blvd., L&M is looking to remove a covenant restricting housing density at the property to 22 units per hectare, limiting housing forms to 50 per cent single-detached and 50 per cent multi-unit housing as well as requiring that 10 per cent of developed units contain accessible features.
That would allow for the developer to build housing density up to the maximum allowed under RM1 zoning, which is 30 units per hectare, to determine what forms housing on the site should take and to let the BC Building Code set accessibility requirements.
The second covenant L&M wants to remove is for 6934 and 6936 Langer Crescent and another for a It does not allow for secondary suites to be built in two-unit housing on those properties.
This, according to a report from city staff, goes against provincial legislation allowing for small-scale multi-unit housing passed since the covenants were established in 2022 and 2020 respectively.
At 4114 Balsum Road, L&M also wants a covenant removed to allow for the construction of secondary suites.
NRH Investments Ltd. is asking for two covenants to be amended, one covering 6991 and 6993 Irene Rd. and another covering 7452 and 7454 Irene Rd., again to allow for secondary suites.
However, sections restricting the construction of basements on the properties will be maintained in this case.
At 4500 Ospika Blvd., Praxis Solutions on behalf of The HUB Collection is asking the replacement of an existing covenant.
As previously reported by The Citizen, the developer started to build a 256-unit student housing building in April 2022 on the property at the corner of Ospika and Tyner Boulevards before stopping construction about a month later.
In February 2023, council rejected a prior application from the developer to amend a restrictive covenant so that a 118-unit apartment building for seniors’ congregate living could instead be built.
A report from city administration recommends that council approve this latest attempt to modify the covenant as it lines up with the city’s housing needs report.
Should council approve the amendment of the covenant, the city still has to approve a new development permit for the project.
For all these covenants, council will decide whether to grant first and second readings of bylaws amending them. Before they are passed, council will have to host public hearings and vote on a third and final reading for the bylaws. That will happen at future meetings.
