A public meeting under the Planning Act, held during the Town of BWG's virtual council meeting on Tuesday night, heard an application to rezone the property at 51 John St. West from 'Residential' to 'Core Commercial.'
Celeste Phillips Planning Inc., on behalf of Lynmar Holdings Inc., applied for the rezoning of the property located on the north side of John Street West between Moore and Church Streets, to accommodate an expansion of Crozier & Associates Engineering.
Crozier Engineering currently has an office just to the west of the subject property. The property, which measures 1,040 square metres in size and contains a single detached dwelling listed on the Town Heritage Register, is currently designated Residential and zoned R2-1 - a zoning that allows daycares and home-based businesses, but not a 'Business Office.'
No comments or concerns were received from outside agencies, but the Town of BWG Clerks Department noted there would need to be adequate space for accessible parking.
The Economic Development Office advised that the applicant has also applied for grants through the Downtown Community Improvement Program (CIP) for exterior and interior work on the building, as well as the cost of permits, and suggested the proposal will improve the overall property and help to increase business.
Input was also received from neighbours of the property, who told council that they would like to see the heritage dwelling maintained and did not support residential taxes going toward the CIP grant program. They also called on the town to ensure that any future offices would be compatible with the existing residential neighbourhood.
According to Phillips, the property was used in the past as a commercial office space for many years, but was never officially rezoned by the town. She said there are no new buildings proposed for the site. Plans do call for demolition of an accessory building, to accommodate a new parking lot.
Mayor Rob Keffer noted that the application was originally scheduled for the March 17 council meeting which was cancelled due to COVID-19, "so I do realize that this has delayed this request for zoning change."
Coun. Peter Dykie supported the application. "I like the concept and the layout they have. I think this property will be well maintained," he said.
"We’re happy to have Crozier in our town. It's great that they are expanding and needing more office space," agreed Mayor Keffer.
No decision was made by council at this time. Comments were referred to staff for review and a recommendation to council at a later date.
