Regina hears feedback on community plan

REGINA – The R.M. of Sherwood was not present at Tuesday’s city council meeting, but they let their opinion be known anyway, with a letter addressed to Regina’s city council.

Council held a special public meeting to allow delegations to voice concerns with Design Regina, the city’s official community plan. How Regina will deal with its inevitable growth over the next several decades is something council, businesses and community partners have been hammering out for the past two years.

The R.M. of Sherwood has voiced their opposition to the plan, namely the part of the plan which would see the annexation of large parcels of land around Regina’s borders. The initial proposal, which was released in May, would allow the city to grow to a potential population of 500,000 people.  The R.M. has said the annexation conflicts with their own community development plan.  Since then, the R.M. and the city have been in mediation and both parties say they’re making progress.

“(There have been) some difficulties in the relationship for many years, just over misunderstandings I think, rather than realizing what the other parties want, and I’m talking whether it’s the city or the R.M. of Sherwood – and the way the situation has unraveled to date, it looks like we’re understanding each other a whole lot more,” said Tim Probe, deputy reeve of the R.M. of Sherwood.

Mayor Michael Fougere wouldn’t comment on the mediation, other than to say he felt things were going well.

Tuesday evening, seven delegates addressed council.  Most of them spoke favourably to the plan.

“There are a lot of elements in the OCP that are beneficial for cyclists, like consideration for a citywide bike network, consideration of …facilities for cyclists, like bike racks, and creating walkable and cycle-friendly streets,” said Derek Yau of Bike Regina.

Future housing development also continues to be an important issue in the plan.  The mayor spoke to that issue in a media scrum after the meeting.

“I know some of the developers have concerns about the staging of lands. That’s always a concern; that’s always a pressure to have a supply of land to meet the lowest vacancy rate in Canada for housing,” he said.

“The challenge will be if you have a set of guiding principles and a growth plan over here, but your zoning bylaws don’t match up with that – your development standards manual, right down to your construction specs, don’t match up with that plan,” explained delegate and Regina and Region Homebuilders’ Association President, Stu Niebergall.

Mediation talks between the R.M. of Sherwood and the city are expected to come to a conclusion before council votes on the OCP on September 9th, according to the mayor. Council will also hold another public meeting Thursday evening to allow for discussion on annexation and the proposed alterations to city boundaries.