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Carriage homes on Burke

The first carriage homes for Coquitlam will be built in the northeast of the city.

The first carriage homes for Coquitlam will be built in the northeast of the city.

On Monday, city council approved a rezoning bid by Morningstar Homes for 34 single-family houses on Roxton Avenue, 21 of which will have the detached accessory dwellings.

"I'm pretty excited about this development," said Coun. Mae Reid, who chairs the city's land use committee, commenting on the views of Mt. Baker from Burke Mountain and the reputation of the builder.

According to the public hearing plans, Morningstar will construct the houses on 3.63 acres near Leigh elementary school and Leigh Park, in the Smiling Creek neighbourhood, with the carriage homes, above the rear garage, on Roxton Avenue and Sobell Street.

Secondary suites would not be allowed for houses with a carriage home, city staff say.

Ryan Lucy, Morningstar's development manager, told council the rooflines of the carriage homes would be the same, and slope north to south.

The introduction of innovative housing is a hot topic these days at Coquitlam city hall, especially as Austin Heights redevelops. And this week, city council passed a new housing choices initiative for the Southwest Coquitlam Area Plan that would allow carriage homes and garden cottages as well as triplexes and quadraplexes within the neighbourhood attached residential land-used designation.

Reid said she hopes the move will spur growth in the older neighbourhoods of Austin Heights, Lower Lougheed and Burquitlam, especially for seniors who own large lots. "Now they can get some income from the rest of their land," she said.

Jim McIntryre, Coquitlam's general manager of planning, said carriage homes would only be allowed on properties currently zoned RT-1; owners wanting to build an accessory unit wouldn't have to go to public hearing - only apply for a development permit, a move opposed by Coun. Lou Sekora. "To me, this is nothing but pre-zoning," he said.

Don Violette of the Burquitlam Community Association said city staff have to watch the densification as, in his neighbourhood, a duplex has four units, he said.

jwarren@tricitynews.com