Many residents and representatives of different organizations attended the open house hosted by the City of Weyburn on Monday evening on the official community plan and zoning bylaw.
The official community plan was last passed in 2003, so the City undertook a review of the plan, first consulting several groups and stakeholders, including the Weyburn and District Planning Commission and the RM of Weyburn.
As a part of the mandated process to review the plan, the open house provides the public consultation required for the plan and for the zoning bylaw which is based on that plan.
According to the province’s Planning and Development Act, an official community plan “is the keystone of the planning process and is essential in managing future growth and development of the community.”
The plan includes current and future land use and development, managing lands that are subject to flooding or instability, managing environmentally sensitive lands, and coordinating land use with adjacent municipalities, in this case, the RM of Weyburn.
The plan reflects where residents see their community going in the next 15-20 years, and planning for the use of the 1,640 acres that comprises the City of Weyburn for residential, commercial and industrial development.
“We’ll take in the information from the open house and review it, and it will be part of the document which will then be presented to council in February or March,” said Mathew Warren, city manager, who noted that P3Architecture Regina was awarded the contract to perform the review in April 2019.
The creation of OCP and Zoning Bylaw documents will contain input from the community (residents, stakeholders), city administration, city council, the Weyburn Planning District’s District Plan (2013), the City of Weyburn’s Strategic Plan, Weyburn Regional Economic Development, the RM of Weyburn’s Official Community Plan and zoning bylaw and the province’s Planning and Development Act of 2007.
Once city council has passed the new Official Community Plan and zoning bylaw, they must submit it to the provincial government for approval by the minister. The minister will in most circumstances, render a decision regarding the planning bylaw within 90 days of receipt, unless an extension is required. The bylaw is not in effect until it is approved by the minister.
