MOOSE JAW — A businessman who wants to add a second suite to a one-unit home on South Hill can now do so after city council changed the zoning bylaw to accommodate the request.
During its recent regular meeting, council gave three unanimous readings to a zoning bylaw amendment, which will allow Jared Videgain, owner of Unified Canadian Construction Ltd., to add another suite to 453 Lillooet Street West.
The home is in the C2 high-density commercial district, where one-unit dwellings are considered discretionary use. The zoning bylaw initially did not list secondary suites as either a permitted or a discretionary use, so the suites were prohibited.
The bylaw update will add secondary suites as permitted uses in the C2 district and a parking requirement of one space per dwelling unit for secondary suites to the commercial districts’ parking requirement table, a council report said. This will mirror the existing requirement for such suites in residential districts.
The council report said that city hall advertised the bylaw amendment twice in the Moose Jaw Express newspaper, on the city’s website, through a paper copy at city hall and through direct mail to 895 properties within 90 metres of the C2 district. However, no one provided any comment.
Videgain told council in June that he was open to any amendment that would allow him to add a secondary suite to the building. He said he bought the location months ago with the idea of installing a secondary suite. However, he “messed up” and failed to check the building’s zoning.
Asked if he planned to remove a business sign from the front, Videgain said that the sign is his since he is a general contractor. He said customers don’t come to the property, but instead, call him about adding an addition to their home or installing a kitchen or bathroom.
The businessman said he wanted to make this addition because the provincial government was giving out $30,000 grants to people who spent $100,000 to install secondary suites — the main reason for this project.
Videgain added that keeping the building in the C2 district is ideal since that would let him install a garage where he could build cabinets.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Aug. 11.
