The City of Regina’s planned annexation of new lands for development may be scaled back considerably under a new proposal revealed at an R.M. of Sherwood meeting Wednesday evening. After publicly advertising an ambitious annexation plan on the weekend, the City administration is now recommending annexation only of lands designated for “imminent development”.

Lands identified for “long term development” will be left under R.M. jurisdiction, meaning they will remain farmland for now. The change in plans coincides with today’s news that Regina’s population dropped between 2004 and 2005, and amid controversy over land owned by members of the Fiacco family.

Under the new proposal, land directly south of the airport, including Devonia Park, where Mayor Fiacco and other individuals own lots, are no longer on the table. Participants at the R.M. meeting indicated the lots would likely remain agricultural land for some time to come. Only the section of land bordering the Lewvan Expressway, already within city limits, will be available for development. The city plans a big box area and some housing for this section under their Southwest Development Proposal. With an annexation change, the planned commercial ‘town centre’ would now be on the western edge of the development.

Proposed annexation in the northwest will also be scaled back under the new proposal. Instead the City would negotiate only for a strip of land along

The area in east Regina will fall off the table, however the southeast lands remain part of the annexation proposal. The City would also annex land behind the Co-op refinery in the north.

Under the proposal, the City would offer the R.M. a one-time payment of $108,000 for all the annexed land, equivalent to 15 years of projected tax revenue.

The change of plan is a response to several concerns raised by the R.M. regarding compensation for lost taxes and other matters. At tonight’s meeting several questions and objections remained, however. Sherwood councillors agreed the one-time payment was too low, and that clarification was needed regarding plans for a highway bypass. They also raised concerns that access to agricultural land in the southeast may be cut off by potential growth of a new city suburb extending into an area bordering Chuka Creek.

The councillors also questioned the City’s designation of the area near the refinery as “urban holdings” – meaning a future residential area – when clearly industrial development is the only future possibility for the land.

The new plan was placed before the City of Regina’s Executive Council the same evening as the R.M. meeting, and is expected to go forward as recommended to City Council on Monday.

You read it first on Actupinsask.org

Shrinking ambition? Old expansion plan - areas in black and grey

New plan - areas in yellow only.
Note: Land between the Lewvan and sections 11 and 13 in the southwest (appearing on this map as white) are within city limits and do not need to be annexed in order for development to proceed. The proposed strip of big box development is within this area.

Comments

Written by Hugo Chavez on 2006-09-27 23:33:42 See what the CCFR can do for you when not in power, imagine what they can do when elected !  I'm voting CCFR !  How about you ?

Written by wagmitfam on 2006-09-28 00:30:08 CCFR all da way!    And way to go, People! We got da power!!! Fiasco's runnin' scared!

Written by frank furter on 2006-09-28 08:29:24 If the city is truly backing off the original plan, due to pressure from the R.M., good for the city. They are listening to someone. I still can't help think there is some other reason the plan has been changed so quickly. Does the election have anything to do with it?

Written by oswald on 2006-09-28 08:43:02 This is about people with power and influence getting away with whatever they think they can get away with. A lot of developers stood to profit immensely from these developments, so they were pushing hard for them -- whether or not they made sense. As soon as people started shining light on the process -- doing their own research, exposing how ill-conceived the whole plan is, getting the media interested -- they had to back away because they realized they didn't have a leg to stand on.    And yes, I suspect if there wasn't an election looming they would never have caved so easily. Look how much hard work it took a couple of years back to keep them from closing libraries! Once this election is over, if the same crowd is in power we'd better brace for service cuts, school closures, and all the rest.

Written by pelliott on 2006-09-28 09:21:05 Keep your campaign corks in, friends. The Sherwood sections in the southwest were part of the pie-in-the-sky sales job - the reason why we need a bunch of "large format retail" to service the phantom future neighbourhood. Rest assured the big box plans for the area bordering the Lewvan are still full on. Giant WalMarts are coming to a neighbourhood near you. The difference is that some of the surrounding charade has disappeared. There's a group in Saskatoon that fights big boxes - someone should contact them. They are called ShEEP.

Written by pelliott on 2006-09-28 13:35:38 But having said that...give yourselves a pat on the back. The sprawl stops at Sherwood, at least.

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