Beaconsfield council has rejected construction plans for a single-family home proposed on a vacant lot once considered for an evangelical bible hall.
On Monday, following the recommendation of the planning advisory committee, council unanimously rejected a request for a construction permit to build a single-detached home that included an in-law suite at 83 Wildtree Dr.
While the initial plans were rebuffed, the proposed project doesn’t require a zoning change since residential use is permitted.
Design questions led to the permit denial, said councillor Wade Staddon, who previously headed the planning advisory committee. With an in-law suite being part of the project, the city thinks the exterior should look more like one house rather than two in order to better integrate into the neighbourhood, he said.
“It gave the appearance of being more than one house,” Staddon said of the initial designs submitted by the owners, adding revised plans could be submitted as part of another permit request.
The property in question, a 15,937-square-foot lot on Wildtree along Beaurepare Drive near Beaconsfield High School, was sold this past June, according to the municipal tax roll. The vacant lot has a new valuation of $262,900, representing an increase of about 28 per cent from the 2009 roll.
The single-family homes across the street from this lot were all constructed in the past few years and have valuations in the $600,000 range.
Last year, a contentious rezoning request by Montreal Bible and Gospel Halls to allow religious activities on the Wildtree lot was withdrawn after enough residents signed a register that could have forced council to hold a referendum.
Members of this evangelical group had stated at the time of the rezoning request that they wanted to build a new bible hall on Wildtree inBeaconsfield because a meeting location on Broadview Ave. in Pointe-Claire, across the street from Lindsay Place High School, had become overcrowded in recent years.