A large number of people from the Cathedral neighbourhood happily left Regina city council Monday night after their concerns over a proposed apartment building successfully blocked the demolition of a home that’s more than 100 years old.
The proponent of the development, Richard McGrath, wanted to build a four-story mixed-use complex at the corner of 13th Avenue and Elphinstone Street. The first floor would be for commercial units, and the top three would contain 29 apartments. The complex would have had 31 parking spaces, and McGrath planned on tearing down the house at 2064 Elphinstone St. to accommodate the lot.
“It was a very long process, but we’re very pleased with the results,” Abby Ulmer said.
Ulmer and four other delegates represented the Protect Cathedral Neighbourhood Group (PCNG). Their arguments revolved around the potential risk by having a construction zone right beside the future Connaught School, plus the height and style of the apartment not fitting into the Cathedral Community Plan.
READ MORE: Four-storey high building proposed for Cathedral neighbourhood up for consideration
The most contentious issue though was the proposed demolition of a more than 100-year-old home at 2064 Elphinstone Street.
“The parking lot was a problem, and tearing down an old house for a parking lot was a problem,” Brenda Niskala from PCNG said.
“I think the city did what they could with what they had, and made the right decision.”
The debate over the proposed complex went on for nearly three hours and, just before midnight council voted 6-4 in favour of denying the application.
Mayor Michael Fougere said he’s never seen 21 delegates come to speak on a single issue, and that was definitely something to take into consideration.
“You can’t just say, I’m not going to listen to that. I don’t want to say I know better than you know,” he said.
What Fougere would have rather seen was a compromised plan. PCNG pitched a three-storey apartment instead of four.
The development team said this wouldn’t be financially feasible. McGrath planned on investing money into the apartment and using the earnings to retire.
McGrath didn’t plan on starting construction of the apartment for about two years, and the option exists to submit a modified proposal to the city.
“Somewhere in the middle is where people might be a little uncomfortable, but they can live with it,” Fougere said.
“That’s where I think we should have got to, I would like to have seen that.”
Fougere added that the neighbourhood plan, existing building bylaws, and the city’s Official Community Plan are out of sync with each other. The city said it will review these documents and find a way to make them work together in a better way, as well as eliminate confusion on issues that were seen in this application.
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