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Duplex development divides Richmond council

A lot that currently has a single-family home on it, located at 5500 Williams Rd. (at No. 2 Road), is being planned for two duplexes.
city hall

A lot that currently has a single-family home on it, located at 5500 Williams Rd. (at No. 2 Road), is being planned for two duplexes.

Council passed first reading on the four-home application on Tuesday, despite some councillors arguing the lot should be denser while others said it should have fewer homes on it.

Coun. Harold Steves called this application a “compromise,” adding more housing should be built on the lot. Arguing for densification, he said more people will come to the region as climate change increases.

Coun. Carol Day, however, said the plan is too dense for the area, covering 45 per cent of the lot with only 20 per cent landscaping. She added the parking will cause “traffic gridlock” in the complex and make it “non-livable.”

Jim McGrath, whose family lives adjacent to the proposed development, told council the two duplexes would be “overbearing” and inconsistent with the architecture of adjacent homes.

He added he’s worried about the development impinging on the privacy of the homes around it.

Couns. Day, Kelly Greene, Chak Au, and Michael Wolfe voted against the project.

The development will next go to public hearing.