The Town of Battleford is hoping to have a new official community plan by the end of this year.
Last week, town council approved a resolution to have Crosby Hanna and Associates prepared a new plan and an accompanying zoning bylaw. The estimated cost is between $35,000 and $44,995, plus the costs of the necessary advertising and any public hearings council may choose to host.
Town administrator Sheryl Ballendine said Crosby Hanna and Associates has been working with the Town for at least 40 years.
“They do know all the background of the town,” she told councilors. “I do believe that's definitely one of the reasons the price is as reasonable as what I think it is.”
Mayor Derek Mahon said, "These folks have been around a long time and they are pretty well respected."
The last time the plan was addressed was in 2005. It was revamped that year, said Ballendine, but a full-blown review hasn’t been done for many years.
In fact, the Town’s plan is still called a basic planning statement, a name that was changed to official community plan with the province’s Planning and Development Act of 2007.
The OCP is considered the keystone of a municipality’s planning process, essential in managing future growth and development of the community.
By legislation, the OCP must be prepared in consultation with a professional community planner as licensed under the Community Planning Profession Act, 2013.
The OCP enables a municipality to set development goals, objectives and policies which council can use to manage land use, subdivision, municipal services and public utilities. An OCP must also incorporate any applicable provincial land use policies and the Statements of Provincial Interest, which identifies any provincial interests in the municipal planning process.
By legislation, an OCP is also required to identify policies that address:
• sustainable current and future land use and development in the municipality;
• current and future economic development;
• the general provision of public works;
• the management of lands that are subject to natural hazards including, flooding, slope and instability;
• the management of environmentally sensitive lands;
• the co-ordination of land use, future growth patterns and public works with adjacent municipalities;
• source water protection; and
• implementation of the OCP.
A zoning bylaw is the primary legal and administrative means of implementing an OCP.
Ballendine said, “The official community plan will look into the location of certain zones and the relationships to other zones. The zoning bylaw itself will determine how you apply that to everyday construction and subdivisions.”
The cost of the official community plan project will come out of funds that have been put in reserve for just such a purpose through the Town’s budget process.
Crosby Hanna & Associates is an award-winning landscape architecture and community planning firm with offices located in Saskatoon and Regina.
