Developer's request, spending grant money and a Niverville annexation update

Niverville Town Council recently gave approval to a developer to create 40 small lots south of Highlands Estates, on the west side of the railroad tracks.  

Eric King, Niverville CAO says, they are going to be “Cobblestone Courts” style of housing, which is an established development on the east side of town.  

“This will allow for 30 by 100-foot-wide lots, with 4-foot side yards, which is slightly smaller than the standard lot. A standard lot in a normal Niverville residential zone would be 40ft wide and we're going down to 30.”  

King says, the lots are still quite deep, but they will require a variance.  

The long-skinny lots, as King describes them, will have the garage set back of the house with possibly a shared driveway between the homes. “This allows for a bigger house on a smaller lot.” 

He says, "the developer hopes to make it more affordable to those first-time homeowners. These homes will have a garage pad that is set back, you're not parking inside, but you still could add a garage later on when you can afford it.” 

As well, Niverville Town Council is finally able to make use of the $75,000 they received last summer from the Canada Active Transportation Fund.  

“Active transportation refers to the movement of people or goods powered by human activity. Active transportation includes walking, cycling, and the use of human-powered or hybrid mobility aids such as wheelchairs, scooters, e-bikes, rollerblades, snowshoes and cross-country skis, and more" an Active Transportation Fund definition. 

Council applied for the grant in 2022 and will now be using those funds to add to the network of sidewalks in Niverville.  

King says, “There are three projects around town that will see new paving of pathways, in spots where there currently aren't and they will improve accessibility to some other areas of town, including tying the sidewalk from the east side of the railway tracks to the new subdivision on the west side.”  

Then, King gives an update on the process of land annexation from the RM of Hanover.  

“So, the Council has submitted to the municipal board last week a follow-up report produced by Urban Studies, who was a consultant about the annexation in the public engagement process that happened in November and December 2022.  That report is now with the municipal board, and the Municipal Board responded with a letter already. There are some things that we needed to fill the gaps in. Once that is done, the next step is to request a public hearing with the municipal board so that anyone who has concerns about it can come forward. It wasn't necessarily required, we just wanted to go the extra step and make sure that if people have concerns, they have the opportunity to speak” 

King said he is pleased that Niverville residents had the opportunity to speak for or against the annexation. Where revisions were made, he notes each property owner received a letter with those revisions, and that council is now waiting to see how the Municipal Board hearing will go.  

King notes, “they've worked through some different concepts of rural zones and urban zones and how they are treated differently between the two RM’s and how we can keep treating them the same way as they have been in Hanover, but also thinking about how, if someone wished to develop it, how it would go forward?” 

The next Niverville Town Council meeting is happening on Tuesday, February 7, 2023 starting at 9am upstairs in the Niverville CRRC. Everyone is welcome to attend.