By TERRY PUGH
A proposal by a national company to build two new apartment buildings in Martensville’s Lake Vista neighbourhood is one step closer to becoming a reality.
Martensville City Council voted at its February 18 meeting to amend its zoning bylaw and Official Community Plan (OCP) to allow a 2.72 acre parcel of land at the corner of Main Street and 16th Avenue North to be rezoned as R3 High-Density Residential from C2A Arterial Commercial.
The developer is still required to submit a discretionary use application prior to being issued a building permit; and approval of that application by city council is still required before the project can proceed.
The proposal was first put forward to Martensville City Council in November, 2024 by North Ridge Developments, the company developing the Lake Vista neighbourhood. City Council gave first reading to of a bylaw to rezone the site at a meeting December 17, 2024. Council gave second and third reading to the bylaw at the February 18 meeting.
A report to the February 18 meeting from the city’s planning department noted the plan to develop a “dwelling group” consisting of two apartment buildings on the site does fit the long-range vision for the area.
“Within both the OCP and Zoning Bylaw, Main Street from Centennial Drive to 8th Avenue South is considered a mixed use corridor with the intention to transition low density residential to a livable main street which supports higher density development (residential and commercial), while maintaining the function as an arterial traffic corridor,” said the report. “This same corridor shall serve as a connection between higher level commercial nodes and corridors, has capacity for future transit and on-street parking. The existing lot sizes are conducive to redevelopment for larger projects. It makes sense that the same uses would extend east on Main Street. 16th Avenue North is a collector street and will also be a well-travelled link into Lake Vista into the future. For these reasons, amending the bylaws for this property from commercial to residential is completely in line and complementary to the vision for the extension of this corridor east along Main Street.”
The report adds the city’s strategic plan is aimed at providing a full range of housing options in all sectors of the city, and notes that increasing residential density supports the growth of commercial areas, entertainment and employment nodes. The project’s proposed location along a major arterial roadway and collector street should be able to accommodate the expected additional traffic.