Discretionary Use Proposal 

A Discretionary Use Application has been submitted by Bluebell Enterprises Ltd. requesting City Council's approval to develop a boarding house with 14 units and one care-taker suite purposed to provide rental accommodations for 30 days or longer to a maximum of 14 boarders at any given time.

The live-in caretaker will be responsible for supervising and maintaining the property which would include the upkeep of landscaping and snow removal. Eight on-site parking spaces are required and provided for in the rear yard of the property. This application has been reviewed by other civic divisions and no concerns have been identified that would preclude this application from proceeding.  

The subject site is zoned R2A - Low Density Residential Infill District under Bylaw No. 8770, The City of Saskatoon Zoning Bylaw. This zoning district is to provide for residential development in the form of one and two unit dwellings, while facilitating certain small scale conversions and infill developments, as well as related community uses. Boarding homes are considered a Discretionary Use in the R2A District. 

Location Map

Provide Feedback

Questions and comments on this proposal are invited at this time by contacting

Tanner Halonen, Planner
tanner.halonen@saskatoon.ca 
306-986-3699

Appropriate alternatives to public information meetings are being evaluated in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the response to this proposal, next steps in the engagement process will be determined. 

Renderings & Site Plan for 343 Avenue R South

What is a Discretionary Use? 

All property in the City of Saskatoon is assigned a zoning designation.  Within each zoning designation, specific land uses are either permitted, prohibited, or discretionary.  A Discretionary Use is a land use that is generally consistent with the permitted uses in a zoning district.  As per Section 4.7.2(1) of the Zoning Bylaw, a Discretionary Use may be allowed either at the discretion of City Council or City Administration.  Either approving authority can approve, approve with conditions, or deny a Discretionary Use application.  The approving authority for boarding homes in the R2A District is City Council.

The Planning and Development Division evaluates Discretionary Use applications on a case-by-case basis considering the site itself, as well the surrounding context including nearby land uses.

A Discretionary Use approval is applied to a specific site, not the applicant.  Any change in size or intensity of the use approved would require a new Discretionary Use application.

What is a Boarder? 

The Zoning Bylaw defines as boarder as “a person who rents sleeping accommodations which have no individual cooking facilities, and who may be furnished with meals or other services as part of the consideration, but who is not a member of the household occupying the principal dwelling unit and is not the proprietor of a boarding house or boarding apartment.”

What is a Boarding House? 

A boarding house is defined as a “building in which the proprietor supplies sleeping accommodations for more than five boarders but not more than 15 boarders, exclusive of the proprietor and the proprietor’s household, and where meals and other services may be provided, and where no cooking facilities are present in any individual sleeping room or accommodations.”

Process

When a Discretionary Use application is received by the Planning and Development Division, it is circulated to internal Civic Departments to identify conformance or conflict with the Official Community Plan, the Zoning Bylaw, and any other applicable policies and regulations.  Departments that review the application include Planning and Development, Transportation & Construction, Environment & Utilities, Fire & Protective Services, and Building Standards.

Once the application has been reviewed by internal Civic Departments, public consultation on the application is undertaken.  Registered property owners typically within 75 to 150 metres of the subject site and the Ward Councillor are notified of the proposed Discretionary Use application as per the City’s Public Notice Policy.  When considered necessary, a public information meeting may be held to provide information to area residents on the Discretionary Use application, answer questions, and receive feedback.

Information collected from the internal review and public consultation processes will be considered by City Administration.  The application may then be approved, approved with conditions, or denied.

Decision 

At the Public Hearing held on December 21, 2020, City Council approved the Discretionary Use Application submitted by Bluebell BD Enterprise Ltd. to develop a Boarding House for up to 14 boarders at any one time at 343 Avenue R South, subject to the following conditions:

1.  The applicant obtain a Development Permit and all other relevant permits and licences (including a Building Permit); and

2.  The final plans submitted be substantially in accordance with the plans submitted in the support of this Discretionary Use Application.

3.  That a minimum of one live-in caretaker be provided onsite. 

Link to Council Minutes