MOOSE JAW — A piece of River Street West now officially belongs to the River Street Development Corp., after city council approved a bylaw that affects a small slice of the road.
During its July 14 regular meeting, city council gave three unanimous readings to Bylaw No. 5739, street closure bylaw, which closed all of block/parcel S1, Plan 102065532, Extension 0. This will facilitate the subdivision, sale and consolidation of the street and return it to the original adjoining parcels; the land is not required for traffic.
Mayor James Murdock did not vote and excused himself from the room because he has financial connections to the corporation.
The sale is conditional upon the corporation purchasing four nearby lots. Furthermore, it must complete the subdivision and consolidation of the four lots to form a single parcel, while it must consolidate the remaining portion of a nearby property.
Also, the organization will be responsible for all related costs, such as for the street closure, subdivision, consolidation, land sale, title transfer and any required easement agreements.
The River Street Development Corp. plans to build a Hilton Hotel on that street. So, it purchased a chunk of the 0 block of River Street West on the north side for $1.
This “bulb out,” as city administration described it, is 0.024 hectares (0.06 acres) in size and was originally intended as a turnaround for a previous hotel development that never materialized.
The municipality has no use for the parcel, which is not used as a road and serves no function. The corporation will acquire some of the land, while a portion of the road will remain as part of River Street, vested with the Crown, and the city will confirm the final boundaries through a legal survey.
Also, the city will preserve or protect any utilities through registered easements.
City hall issued a notice of intention to close and sell a portion of the street on its website and in the Moose Jaw Express, while it also sent the notice to nearby property owners on the street, a council report said. No one submitted any comments about the project.
This is the second land sale the city has made with the corporation. In March 2024, council approved administration’s application to subdivide the west 150 feet of the 0 block of River Street West from the corporation's adjacent property for $290,000.
The next regular city council meeting is Monday, July 28.
