City rejects homeowner's waterfront plan

A Charlottetown man is being forced to rejig plans for his waterfront home after council rejected his application to build closer to the property.

Larry Dunville owns a narrow plot of land at the corner of Richmond and West streets. Some neighbours have expressed concern the home would change the neighbourhood and block views of the Charlottetown Harbour.

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We asked for the same buildable area in a shorter configuration to give the neighbours more of a view.- Larry Dunville

Under current property regulations, new homes must be at least 19.5 feet from adjacent residential properties.

Dunville applied for a variance to have it reduced to six feet. City councillors voted 6-2 this week against it.

Dunville said building closer to the property lines would actually have given the neighbours better views, because it allowed for a shorter, wider home. But since it was rejected, he'll have to build it narrower and longer.

"We did not ask for an increase in size for the buildable area. We asked for the same buildable area," he said.

"We asked for the same buildable area in a shorter configuration to give the neighbours more of a view, and to give us more flexibility to build a house we felt would be in keeping with the other houses in the area."

'Want to welcome him'

Neighbours said they'd still like to set up a meeting with Dunville to chat about some of their concerns and see if they can work through some of these issues.

"I know it's his property, and he has a right to build, and we really want to welcome him to the community," said Cindy Midgley, who lives two doors down.

"But it would be great if we could have a meeting. Nobody wants to be negative at all."

Public input over

Dunville will still have to go through a design review process with the city before he can actually build, but public input won't be a part of that.

"Really, the public had a say on the variance, and that's pretty much it," said Coun. Greg Rivard, chair of the city's planning committee. "He can get a building permit tomorrow if he stays within the design parameters."

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