Council for the Rural Municipality of Hanover has denied a request for a basement suite in Blumenort.
Tommy Holstein appeared before Council Wednesday morning. Holstein wants to build a house at 62 Harvest Bay. He told Council that within this house he would like to include a basement suite for his parents. Holstein needed conditional use approval, as the neighbourhood is zoned R1 or single-family residential.
The municipality received one letter of objection from a neighbour. The neighbour indicated that they purchased their property with the understanding that this was not a multi-family development. Their concerns included increased traffic, limited parking, added strain on shared wells, decreased property values because of a lack of pride in a rental situation, and added strains on schools.
Blumenort Councillor Roberto Hiebert noted that though the motive behind this request was good, this development is zoned R1 and should stay that way. He says Council recently denied a similar request nearby and says there are multi-family dwelling opportunities in the area. Hiebert made a motion to deny the application. Council unanimously endorsed that motion.
Hanover Reeve Jim Funk says there are a couple of reasons why Council denied this request. Similar to what Hiebert noted, Funk says Council wants to refrain from having basement suites in R1 zones. But also, Funk says if Council had approved this request, the change would have stuck with the property. That means that if Holstein one day sells the property, the basement suite would remain.