Background
The North Concept Plan focuses on a key area of the P4G Planning District where development pressure and development potential is high, and where four P4G partners have joint interests in land use and servicing. The plan area is located in a northern corridor of the P4G Planning District and includes Highways 11, 12 and 16 and is situated between the northern boundary of Saskatoon and the southern boundaries of Martensville and Warman.
The goal of the North Concept Plan is to assist in the implementation of P4G’s vision for the region, ensuring that growth proceeds in a balanced and rational manner, identifying the future land uses, servicing components and major road networks required to support proposed rural and urban development. The North Concept Plan will act as a framework to assess development proposals and assist the P4G municipalities with decision-making. The plan area has high growth potential and is expected to accommodate a large portion of the employment and population growth needed to reach regional targets.
The City of Saskatoon Planning Project Services was contracted to prepare the North Concept Plan on behalf of the P4G partners.
Engagement
Engagement meetings and one-on-one sessions were held with rights holders and stakeholders including various municipal departments, provincial agencies and ministries, First Nations, utility providers, the Saskatoon Airport Authority and Wanuskewin Heritage Park. These meetings took place through 2019 and 2020 with the goal of identifying opportunities and constraints, and what was envisioned for the plan area.
Information on previous public engagement can be found under Past Events.
Land Use Overview
The North Concept Plan divided the plan area into four distinct planning cells defined by major transportation routes. Within the cells, the high level P4G District Official Community Plan (OCP) land uses have been further delineated, for example from ‘rural commercial/industrial’ to specific areas for rural light to heavy industrial, and rural commercial development. The cells ensure a compatibility with adjacent land uses, and have transitional land use buffers to minimize nuisance.
Details on the planning cells can be found in section 4.3 in the North Concept Plan, and are outlined as:
Rural, interim development will continue to be accommodated in future urban growth areas where urban servicing will not occur in the short or medium term. It is intended that rural development be either of a temporary nature or be designed to integrate with future urban land uses and infrastructure and ensure the costs of urban growth can be recovered. Urban development will typically be guided by the logical extension of urban services and infrastructure, with the phasing ultimately determined by the prioritization of growth for each respective municipality. Collaboration between municipalities will ensure future growth and land use decisions will reflect the needs and aspirations of the region, and ensure costs and benefits are shared in a fair and equitable way.
Servicing Overview
Transportation, potable water, wastewater and storm water infrastructure servicing will be achieved through a coordinated regional approach as outlined in section 6 in the North Concept Plan. Servicing recommendations are categorized as follows:
The North Concept Plan proposes a future transportation network based on the current Township and Range grid system, with major transportation corridors and a hierarchy of arterial roadways that will support existing uses and future development.
In the future, portions of the plan area will be serviced by primary water mains extending from Saskatoon City limits, requiring additional fill mains, a reservoir, and water treatment capacity from a second water treatment plant. Rural areas will continue to be serviced by regional utility providers.
A future sanitary sewer system that will service future urban areas will consist of one, continuous sanitary sewer system where upstream parts of the system must rely on downstream parts to handle the flow. Rural areas will continue to be serviced by on-site independent systems.
The storm water system will be designed to follow the natural slope of the land, which provides the lowest cost, easiest-to-construct system complemented by a network of preserved wetlands and water bodies. Development must maintain the existing natural sub-catchment areas and drainage paths to ensure that there are no adverse effects on upstream or downstream properties.
Corridors for infrastructure and for utilities (e.g. high pressure gas transmission and overhead electrical transmission lines) are currently established in the plan area. Given the projected population and anticipated land uses, there will be a need for utility improvements; policies in the North Concept Plan provide direction for future utility and infrastructure corridors.
Given the substantial costs for future urban servicing and transportation infrastructure, regional coordination is required to ensure the transition to future urban transportation networks, water and wastewater systems, and storm water is planned, developed, and paid for in the most cost efficient, fair, and equitable manner. The establishment of a regional cost recovery model will be a key element of achieving this.
Proposed Category Changes to the P4G District Land Use Map
During municipal discussions on the North Concept Plan, a number of high-level land use category changes and swaps of rural and urban growth areas were identified. Through review and analysis by the consultant, it was determined that these alterations were supportable. The North Concept Plan proposes three land use category changes in section 4.4 which need to be reflected in amendments to Schedule B – District Land Use and Schedule C – Future Urban Growth Areas in the P4G OCP.
Proposed category changes to the P4G District Land Use Map include:
North Concept Plan Implementation
The North Concept Plan will be used to guide land use and development decisions including proposals to rezone or subdivide land, establish discretionary uses, or amend the text of the P4G District Zoning Bylaw. It will also be used to guide the partner municipalities’ P4G capital project priorities including regional transportation, servicing and cost recovery plans.
Some of the recommendations for future work for P4G that needs to be reviewed and prioritized includes:
This work will be reviewed by the P4G partners for recommendations in the annual work plans and multi-year budget cycles.
On February 12, 2020 an Information Session at the Northridge Community Centre in Martensville was hosted. This event was a come-and-go style event where attendees had the opportunity to learn about the project and discuss it with members of the project team.
From August 3 – 21, 2020 an online consultation process was hosted to capture stakeholder input on major components of the draft North Concept Plan. Thank you to everyone who participated, provided feedback and downloaded the engagement package.
If you have additional questions on how the North Concept Plan may affect you, or to discuss a development proposal in more detail, please contact the Corman Park Planning Department at planning@rmcormanpark.ca or (306) 242-9303.
The North Concept Plan needs to be appended to the P4G District Official Community Plan (DOCP) in order to be implemented. The P4G District Planning Commission (DPC) has recommended that the P4G member Councils adopt the North Concept Plan as an amendment to the P4G DOCP.
Any amendments to the P4G DOCP require public advertising and a public hearing, where rights holders, stakeholders, land owners and members of the public can provide written or verbal comments on the proposed amendments.
The North Concept Plan is expected to be presented to municipal Councils in June/July 2022. For updates on the approval process please contact us.