Saskatoon looks to expand southward

SASKATOON Three years ago, the City of Saskatoon wanted to expand south to annex land located in the Rural Municipality of Corman Park.

The city and the RM opted to pursue a co-operative approach, rather than engage in a fight over jurisdiction. It marked one of the first accomplishments of regional planning efforts and produced a study on the development potential of 2,880 acres southeast of the city, on either side of Highway 11.

The City of Saskatoon’s regional planning manager, Laura Hartney, explained to a city council committee on Monday that the city saw the land as a natural area to expand.

“And the RM of Corman Park was also interested in retaining that area in their jurisdiction because of the development potential that was there,” Hartney told council’s planning, development and community services committee.

The Grasswood Study Area includes the Greenbryre Golf & Country Club, the intersection of Highway 11 and Grasswood Road, some English River First Nation reserve land and land owned by the Cowessess First Nation.

There is some minor commercial development along Grasswood Road, including the Canlan Ice Sports complex and a strip mall.

A city report explains that providing services, particularly storm water and sewer, to the area presents “significant” challenges, particularly given the potential for urban-style residential development.

The area could one day be home to as many as 11,350 people, once development is completed over the next 35 years, the study says. That would more than double the current population of Corman Park and make the area about the same size as one of Saskatoon’s larger neighbourhoods.