Neighbours oppose proposed tribal council preschool
The Montgomery Place Community Association is keeping quiet about its opposition to a proposed Saskatoon Tribal Council preschool in the neighbourhood.
A page on the community association’s website on Monday said a letter was sent to the City of Saskatoon to explain the community association is opposed to the proposed preschool “due to impact on the community.”
The preschool is part of the tribal council’s Aboriginal Headstart program for Indigenous children, with a curriculum based on First Nations tradition and culture.
A blurb on the community association’s website said the preschool proposed for a bungalow at 3437 11th Street West will accommodate 32 children from eight other communities, “not including Montgomery Place.”
“We already have two preschools out here,” Ryan Doherty, who owns a house nearby, said in an interview on Monday. w“there’s no need for a third one. It’s kind of a silly place for it.”
Community association president Barb Biddle declined to comment.
“We are not at a point where we want to have any discussion of this,” Biddle said in an interview.
The page on the community association’s website said more than 100 people attended an information meeting held by the city on Oct. 11 at Montgomery School.
The website said the tribal council provided some information at that meeting, including that the preschool is expected to accommodate 40 children.
The tribal council did not provide a spokesperson to comment Monday.
The city notified residents within 75 metres of the house, according to the community association website, but Biddle and community association vice-president Jim Mcallister visited every home in the 3400 block of 11th and of Caen Street, directly south.
The community association is urging residents to attend a community meeting dealing with the preschool on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at the St. Dominic School library.
Lesley Anderson, the city’s director of planning and development, said in an emailed statement Monday that the city has received “numerous letters from community members.”
Anderson said the city is not prepared to comment until the public consultation process is completed.
City council would need to approve the preschool for it to proceed.
Doherty said he and others are concerned the approval of one commercial property, such as the preschool, along his street will lead to more and damage the character of the historic Montgomery Place neighbourhood.
The community association website said additions to the double-garage house to convert it into a preschool would “double the size and change the house significantly.”
Doherty said he bought his house in Montgomery Place seven years ago because of the large lot size and peace and quiet in the unconventional neighbourhood, which was established after the Second World War for veterans and their families.
The sewer system in the area is already at its limit, Doherty suggested, adding that his basement has flooded three times.
Montgomery Place lacks storm sewers and features drainage ditches.
A small grocer is located west of the proposed preschool site.
On the north side of 11th, a large patch of undeveloped land lies between the Viterra Inc. grain elevator and an equipment storage facility.
“(The preschool) doesn’t fit the neighbourhood,” Doherty said.
“It affects our property value and our peace and quiet.”