London Road Park
714 7TH ST S AND LONDON ROAD PARK REZONING PROPOSAL
In 2018, the London Road Area Redevelopment Plan was created through extensive consultation with area residents. The plan identified issues with London Road Park being viewed by the community as an “unsafe space that attracts unwanted uses” and established a community vision for “altering the park design to improve clear sight lines and visibility into the park, while eliminating isolated or hidden spaces within the park, and by encouraging development that provides increased “eyes on the park”.”
One option established in the vision was to combine the park's southwest corner with the adjacent property at 714 7th St S and create a townhouse residential development oriented to the remainder of the park.
The rezoning proposal aims to facilitate the subdivision of the southwestern corner of London Road Park, combine the subdivided portion with 714 7th St S, and develop the new lot into multi-unit housing while maintaining the north portion of the park for public access. This initiative would result in a more active, safe, and usable park for the neighborhood.
Thursday, October 5th, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, Lethbridge Land held an Information Session that was open for the public to attend in the Fleetwood-Bawden School (Gymnasium). Nearby residents and property owners (totaling more than 400 mail-outs) were contacted and notified of the information session and invited to participate and give feedback on the proposed rezoning proposal.
Anyone interested in sharing their feedback on this proposal will also have the opportunity to do so through a public hearing held at a future City Council meeting – May 28th, 2024, at 3pm.
PROJECT UPDATE: April 24th, 2024
On April 23rd, 2024, Council voted unanimously to provide First Reading to Bylaw 6438: Land Use Bylaw Amendment re: 714–7 Street South and a Portion of 620–7 Avenue South. Nearby neighbours will receive notification by mail with information on a future Public Hearing.
Members of the public who wish to speak for or against the rezoning are encouraged to attend the Public Hearing on May 28th, 2024, at 3pm. For those who are unable to attend the meeting, written submissions are encouraged to be submitted in advance of the hearing by following the process here.
Following the Public Hearing, Council will then deliberate, debate, and finally decide to approve or deny the land use bylaw amendment. Second and third reading usually take place immediately following the Public Hearing, though Council may choose to table the decision to a later Council meeting.
To view a copy of the proposed Direct Control Bylaw, please click here.
For more information on the rezoning process, please click here.
PROJECT UPDATE: January 29th, 2024
Through the October 5th Information Session, 1-on-1 meetings, and various phone calls, two main themes emerged during our engagement efforts which we have highlighted below. Additionally, we have summarized how our project has changed in response to these themes.
Stakeholder Update Letter
Theme 1
Concerns regarding the loss of park space or degradation of park space.
Initially, the project proposed a parcel size of approximately 29m deep and 51m wide. After hearing from residents that they would like for as much park space as possible to be retained, we have shrunk the proposed parcel by 5m. This maximizes the amount of park space left while still creating a developable parcel. Furthermore, if this development were to occur, sale of the property could fund upgrades to the remainder of the park to offset the removal of the southwest corner.
Theme 2
Recommendations that a “community” type use be considered for the proposed development.
While Lethbridge Land would not be the one developing the final concept for this property, we are able to increase the flexibility of what occurs here through the rezoning application. Furthermore, as this property would be sold through an Expression of Interest, Lethbridge Land would be able to consider alternative proposals for this site.
To leave room for alternative proposals, Lethbridge Land has included “Neighbourhood Facility” and “Child Care, Minor” as proposed permitted uses in our rezoning application. This allows community groups to propose developments for the site that incorporate medium density housing and a community use, or just a community use; however, medium density housing is still the main goal of this project.