BREAKING DOWN THE PROCESS
The approval sought by the Saskatoon Tribal Council to operate a preschool on 11th Street West is called a discretionary use. The Starphoenix’s Phil Tank takes a look at the steps involved in approving the project, which has attracted considerable opposition from the Montgomery Place neighbourhood. Q What is a discretionary use?
AThe City of Saskatoon has divided the city into a multitude of zones such as residential, commercial, light industrial and heavy industrial. Within each zone, certain uses are allowed, some are prohibited and others require approval. A preschool falls into the latter category. So does the brew pub that was approved in September for the former Farnam Block location on Broadway Avenue. Neither approval requires a change in zoning for the neighbourhood.
Q Do all preschools need council approval?
A All preschools require approval from city hall. Some can be approved by bureaucrats; others require a more complex approval process. In Montgomery Place, the zoning requires council’s OK. The city has already held one information meeting on the preschool and is now planning another. The application will then proceed to the municipal planning commission, which will make a recommendation to council. Then council will consider the application at a public hearing meeting.
Q Will the voice of the neighbourhood be heard?
A In addition to the city information meetings, residents can appear before the municipal planning commission to speak, although they must register and the commission meets in a relatively small room. Council considers discretionary use requests at its public hearing meetings, usually held at 6 p.m. on the last Monday of the month. At these meetings, speakers do not need to register, just show up.
Q How common are preschools in residential settings?
A There are about a dozen in Saskatoon, according to the city’s director of planning and development, Lesley Anderson.
Q How many discretionary use applications does the city get?
A In the past five years, the city has received 91 discretionary use applications, an average of about 18 a year. The discretionary uses run the gamut, including preschools, day cares, bed and breakfasts, hostels, taverns, nightclubs and even convents and monasteries. It’s not cheap to start down the discretionary use path. A standard discretionary use application, like a preschool, costs $1,050. A “highly complex” discretionary use application, like a tavern or nightclub, costs $5,300. Applicants must also notify neighbours about a proposed development. Anderson says the city usually only moves forward on applications with a “high chance of success.”
Q Once approved, could the Montgomery Place preschool be converted into another use?
A
The discretionary use approval would only allow a preschool to operate at the 11th Street West location. “Any other use, besides what is allowed under (neighbourhood) zoning, would not be permitted,” Anderson says. Discretionary use approval is different from rezoning, Anderson points out. Discretionary use approval becomes invalid if the use that was approved ceases to operate for two years. The tribal council has said the proposed preschool would operate in the mornings and afternoons four days a week, with 16 children bused in from other neighbourhoods at a time. Owners of the brew pub that was approved on Broadway have said they are discussing changes to their liquor licence that would allow live music. Even a change like that would require city hall approval.
Q
Are people aware of all these zoning rules and approval processes?
A
That’s certainly been discussed by city council recently. Coun. Zach Jeffries has suggested signs on vacant property in newer neighbourhoods could help better inform residents. Jeffries represents the Willowgrove neighbourhood, where residents expressed surprise and opposition to a proposed 70-unit townhouse development. Council ultimately approved the project this fall, but a debate arose on how well-informed people are regarding the city’s complex zoning rules and whether they could be simplified and made more accessible.