Despite some local opposition, including one resident who wanted to see a park developed, city council gave the go-ahead to demolish the old Riverside School building to make way for a proposed low-density subdivision.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
A lengthy back and forth between councillors and city staff ensued following a public hearing Monday night regarding a development permit application for demolition of the former Riverside School building. In the end, councillors unanimously voted to approve the proposal.
The public hearing began with a 10-minute presentation from Brad Wenzel, owner of Prime Builders Ltd., who shared plans to develop a new 18- to 20-home low-density residential subdivision in the location of the former school.
Councillors heard that since 2017 owners of the school had left the property unmaintained and it has since fallen into a state of disrepair.
“The roof has been leaking for an unknown period of time, leaving hardwood floors and joists saturated, allowing black mold to develop between the hardwood pieces,” explained Wenzel. “Plaster is falling in numerous locations. There’s been vagrant break-ins in the last seven years. There’s graffiti and profanity everywhere.”
Councillors were then shown an eight-minute video of a tour of a decrepit building showing vandalism inside the school as well as broken windows and doors in the aging structure.
Wenzel also spoke about the desire to preserve historical elements of the building, which is not classified as historical, including the James Marshall mural, Boys and Girls entry stones, cornerstones and perhaps two time capsules be believed to be buried somewhere inside the school.
Following his presentation Riverside resident David Batista, who is in favour of the demolition of the school but would like to see a park developed in its place, said if council approves the development of more houses in the green space it would be a “sad day” for the neighbourhood.
“We’re not against the house, we’re against losing the only thing we can’t get back,” said Batista. “This field is the last walkable green space left in Riverside, It’s lined with 50- to 70-year-old trees.”
Batista says he has spoken with several neighbours and requested council to explore the possibility of purchasing the land to use as a public parkland and open space.
Following the public hearing, councillors required clarification on the request for approval and several discussions began highlighting the importance of preserving historical features of the building.
Coun. Bill Cocks sought a motion to add additional conditions to the demolition of the building to ensure developers would stay true to their word on historical preservation, however that motion was defeated 7-2.
“My motion to amend is simply the only way I see that we can hold the developer to his word and I’m not saying it’s this developer but we lost that issue,” Cocks said.
Coun. Ted Clugston suggested the developer is taking a big risk with this project and it should not be council’s priority to add more conditions to the demolition of the building.
“For us to meddle and say, ‘You know what, there’s a brick inside there that I think somebody carved their name on it one time,’ is going to delay this application, it may cause extra costs for the developer and the developer may pull out. I don’t think people understand the cost it takes to take down a building.”
The Riverside neighbourhood plan emphasizes preserving its low-density character and community identity, and the Municipal Development Plan supports various concepts of the proposed redevelopment.
In November the Municipal Planning Commission voted in favour of approving the demolition.
Moving forward, council will have to approve the developer’s request to rezone the site into low-density residential, which would require another public hearing.
Council heard the intention is to build bungalow-style homes that would target senior citizens.
