Phase 4 of the West Park subdivision development will add 235 housing units in the coming years, although any further development will require upgrades to the area’s main sanitary lift station.
West Park Development Corporation (WPDC) is the owner and developer of the neighbourhood and submitted a subdivision and rezoning application to city hall on May 31. The applications will allow for more residential density in the subdivision than the company previously proposed, a city council report explained.
The corporation wants to develop the area in five phases. The first three phases have already occurred, while phase four is the next step in the conceptual design plan. The fourth phase will see 31 single-family lots and three multi-family parcels developed with 235 total units on 2.39 hectares (5.9 acres) of land.
The City of Moose Jaw’s Official Community Plan (OCP) lays out criteria for the review of rezoning applications, including:
- The nature of the proposal and its conformation to the OCP
- Lane use capability and area
- Land use demand and supply of available land
- Proposed landscaping and preservation of urban forest
- Transportation networks and off-street parking
- Infrastructure capacity
- Effect on community and community services
During the June 27 regular council meeting, the city administration told city council that the subdivision and rezoning applications meet these criteria.
Council then unanimously voted to proceed with a public notice and bylaw preparation to rezone West Park phase 4 to R1A low-density residential district and R4 core-mixed residential district from R1 large lot low-density residential district.
Furthermore, it agreed to waive the rezoning public information session and signage postings, mandated that the maximum dwelling units on parcels A, B and C not exceed 235 units, ordered the corporation to register a subdivision record on the property title, and authorized city hall to approve the proposal once the conditions were met.
“This is a good opportunity for us to provide more multi-family land. … (However), this is the limit of what development can occur in West Park until we are able to upgrade the Crescent View sanitary lift station,” city manager Jim Puffalt said.
“And then this would also require a major trunk on Ninth Avenue Northeast (to be upgraded), so there’s a lot of costs associated with this.”
City council will need to include those upgrades in a future five-year capital plan since a new main trunk line has not been included yet, Puffalt added. The sanitary sewer services from West Park go north of the city and over to Ninth Avenue Northeast before going south to Crescent View.
The Crescent View Lift Station serves the entire city and requires upgrading or replacement to increase pump capacity. The trunk lines must also be twinned or upsized to increase capacity.
This project does not require any amendments to the OCP, while there should be no problems with providing water and sewer services to the 235 housing units, said Michelle Sanson, director of planning and development. The number of housing units will be split between the three parcels, with the first parcel to hold 81 units.
City hall will work with the developer to landscape the area, while it will take over maintenance of the park once enough time has passed, she continued. Meanwhile, the developer has not said anything about developing phase 5 yet, but that’s OK since its focus will likely remain on phase 4 for a few years.
“I think this is great. When West Park started a few years ago, it started out slow,” said Coun. Doug Blanc. “But it has grown, and I drive through there now and there are some beautiful, affordable homes.”
The next regular council meeting is Monday, July 11.
