Lakewood development could see some changes

The Lakewood community development team presented some proposed changes to the land use amending bylaw 22-18 to Town Council on July 6.

This bylaw concerns phase 2A of Lakewood's development. One of the more exciting proposed changes is the potential expansion of the public park, which would make it close to 3 acres.

Another change is requesting the setbacks in the P1 district to be changed from 1.5 metres to 1.2 metres. This would impact 46 residential lots and 4 municipal reserve lots.

While a change of 0.3 metres may not seem that significant, it's a 20% change to the size, which would require the development team to notify adjacent land owners about this variance. This could add up to one month of processing time for the permits, so to streamline this process the team is hoping for a district overlay.

Other than the changes, Director of Sales and Marketing Scott Silva also outlined several of the unique house styles the team plans on building during phase 2A.

"The phase 2A lots that are coming online really offer a diverse type of home product that's not typically seen here in Strathmore," Silva said.

The four types of houses Silva mentioned were rear lane detached, underdrive garage, walk-out backyard and flat site. These unique home designs will help Lakewood feel distinct, and Silva explains that the rear lane detached home offers a different style from the usual.

"This (rear lane detached homes) allows for a different front streetscape, which really affects the overall look of the community, so it's not always garages in front of homes when you see them."