BETTER NEIGHBOURHOODS
Councillors disappointed official plan for Elk Point contains gaps in information
Council looks to avoid past mistakes
Saskatoon city councillors want to make sure the city’s newest neighbourhood avoids the mistakes that have hindered other neighbourhoods built on the city’s outskirts.
No one is expected to take up residence in Elk Point, just west of Hampton Village and Dundonald, for several years, but the official plan was presented to a city council committee on Monday.
Councillors questioned many aspects of the plan and expressed disappointment that some information was not contained in the report presented to the planning, development and community services committee.
Coun. Zach Jeffries said he hears from frustrated residents in developing neighbourhoods like Evergreen who accept that communities can’t be redesigned once they are built, but expect city hall to learn from its mistakes.
Residents tell him to “Make sure you never do this again,” Coun. Zach Jeffries said.
Monday’s committee voted to refer the plan to the environmental advisory committee to review whether plans for four constructed drainage ponds conform to the city’s wetlands policy.
Darryl Dawson, the city’s development review manager, said he will ensure that when the official plan returns to the committee, it will contain more detailed information on transit, active transportation and traffic calming measures.
“This, I think, is an area where we’ve struggled in the past,” Ward 7 Coun. Mairin Loewen said, referring to transit.
Ward 7 includes the Stonebridge neighbourhood, which is noteworthy for its traffic issues.
Jeffries said the city should avoid a situation where a traffic review is required soon after the neighbourhood has begun to develop. Dawson said the city did an extensive study on transportation for the community, but it was not attached to the report because it’s 600 to 700 pages long.
Jeffries also expressed concern that work to provide servicing to the area had already begun, even though the official plan has not yet been approved by council.
“We don’t bring (neighbourhood plans) here to rubber-stamp them,” Jeffries said.
The neighbourhood is being developed by Saskatoon Land, the city’s land development branch.
Loewen said she wanted to ensure that planning for the storm water drainage ponds in the neighbourhood did not take place prior to the city’s new wetlands rules, introduced in 2012.
Coun. Bev Dubois said she was “very disappointed” that plans for active transportation and transit were not presented on Monday.
Coun. Hilary Gough wanted to know whether residents who bought property in Hampton Village and Dundonald were aware Elk Point would one day replace We don’t bring (neighbourhood plans) here to rubber-stamp them. the undeveloped land west of them.
Dawson said the city relies on developers to ensure home buyers know where the city plans to grow in the future, but added education is “definitely a challenge.”
Elk Point will not get started until the developing west side neighbourhood of Kensington has reached 70 per cent buildout. Kensington currently sits at 20 per cent.
Coun. Troy Davies, who represents Ward 4, where Elk Point will be located, praised the city for balancing growth between east and west.
Elk Point, like other recent neighbourhoods, including Stonebridge and Evergreen, is expected to be home to 10,000 people when finished.
That includes more than 4,600 homes 40 per cent single family and 60 per cent apartments and townhouses. The plan also includes linear parks, similar to the Evergreen neighbourhood.