Drayton Valley residents had a chance to share their views last week regarding a new use proposed for the old United Church.
At their regular meeting March 23, council held a public hearing on rezoning the old United Church of Canada at 5029 – 48 Street. Town officials say the new owner would like to reopen the building as a mixed use facility, offering funeral home services, as well as using it to host weddings and wedding receptions. In order to use it for these purposes, however, the land needs to be rezoned.
The current zoning was for residential, but the new zoning would be special community services.
The first person to speak was Mike McCrae, Director of Operations for Drayton Memorial. Drayton Memorial are the new owners looking to reopen the church. McCrae shared that their proposed new name for the facility would be the Drayton Memorial Celebration Centre.
McCrae did admit, there is a stigma when it comes to funeral homes, but they are working to remove that stigma.
“Many communities have funeral homes in residential areas, and some close ones that I know of are in Leduc and Edson,” said McCrae. “They are appealing and always kept neat and tidy, not at all a detractor to the neighbourhoods.”
McCrae also shared that some of the additions they will make include adding a garage at the rear of the building for their hearse.
McCrae commented that a funeral home would be the best use for the old church, rather than letting the building continue to fall into disrepair.
“We can provide services like in the days of old, where you have your services upstairs, then go downstairs for your tuna and salmon sandwiches,” explained McCrae.
Community outreach is also a big factor in their plans, as according to McCrae, they will hold tours during their renovations so the community can celebrate in the restoration of the building. They also envision loaning out of the facilities to community groups.
“Groups like the 4H club have their speech competitions in their own building that has a cement floor and really crappy acoustics. We would like to offer our building to them so they can come and have many similar events,” McCrae gave as an example. “With our sound system and correctly-sized rooms, it will be great for kids and others. They will enjoy coming to a building that would normally carry negative emotions.”
As they also hope to rent out the facility as a wedding hall, McCrae promises the décor will be modern and tasteful. “We are trying to appeal to brides. Some of them are a little difficult,” joked McCrae.
McCrae did acknowledge that their biggest obstacle so far is the lack of parking. He revealed they already have letters of support from the neighbouring properties to borrow their parking lots, and they will formalize those agreements once the rezoning has been granted. Under the Town’s current bylaws, the facility would require 28 parking spaces.
Despite the positivity in McCrae’s presentation, some Drayton residents did come out to speak against it.
Drayton resident Gloria Thomas was concerned about the facility’s close proximity to a park and daycare centre.
“In my mind, a funeral home is more than that. It facilitates more like a morgue, where they have to keep bodies and stuff like that,” explained Thomas.
Thomas also raised the concern of parking, mainly where the funeral home would park their fleet of vehicles when not in use. She proposed a duplex or a community centre as more appropriate uses.
Thomas summed up her thoughts by saying that she would like more information on the project.
One unnamed Drayton Valley resident accused Drayton Memorial of pulling a bait-and-switch, saying he had heard the renovations include a crematorium, but they are not making that knowledge public.
When the public hearing was closed and council moved on to debating the rezoning, Councillor Tom McGee asked if the crematorium was in the development plan. Administration replied that there is nothing in the development plan and that the crematorium is just a rumour. Administration also added that if Drayton Memorial were to add one someday, they would need to come back to the Town to get a development permit.
Council was mainly concerned with the question of why they needed to rezone at all, noting the proposed use was not much different than when it was a church. Administration reminded those in attendance that the church was established in 1957, the same year the Town was incorporated. Back then, that part of town was designated residential, said Town officials. In every major revision to the Town’s zoning laws since, the church was largely left alone. The rezoning was partially needed to get the lot back up to standards, added Town officials.
Council raised the issue of parking spaces once again, to which administration clarified the process. The issue of the day was the rezoning. Once that was done, Drayton Memorial would then need to apply for a development permit before moving ahead. The issues of parking would be dealt with in the development permit process.
Mayor Nancy Dodds also weighed in, highlighting that since this usage would be a discretionary use under the new zoning, the development permit would be coming to council for final approval. Drayton residents would once again be able to speak for or against the project at that time.
Council voted to approve the rezoning.
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