City council: Housing plans approved

The new year is just underway, but plans are coming together for more residential developments in the city of Weyburn, with the approval of "The Creeks" development on the east side of the city, and a planned group of dwellings adjacent to Clark Park.

For the latter development, the proposal is for a 72-unit bare land condominium within 10.3 acre, designed to accommodate mobile home development directly west of the existing Weyburn mobile home park south of First Avenue SW.

The land was rezoned from Urban Holdings to R5, residential mobile home, and council approved plans to include improvements to the Clark Park area, including building one or two additional sport fields and a children's playground area, all for the benefit of the residents of this area.

Part of the concern for this proposed area is that the land is flood-prone, and will require fill and grading to raise the ground floor for any new structures above the flood elevations to meet provincial development requirements.

The Parks Board reviewed the plan and deemed the plan as favourable, as it would provide for playground equipment for preschool and school-aged children in lieu of the five-per-cent landscaped open space which is typically required.

Coun. Winston Bailey commented that any drainage channel as proposed would need to skirt the area used in Clark Park for the slowpitch leagues. Asking if there was a time-frame set for these improvements, he was told that there would be a two-year time frame for the development to take place.

The developer indicated he was ready to start moving in March with earth-moving, and with installation of services such as power, gas, water and sewer lines.

For the site of the housing itself, there will need to be adequate stripping, grading, fill and landscaping of the site to accommodate flood protection and storm water management improvements, and are required to be designed by a professional and installed at the developer's expense.

Third and final reading, meanwhile, was given to the zoning bylaw amendment to provide for the development of The Creeks on the city's east side.

This long-term development provides for a mix of residential dwelling types, with over 800 new homes being planned for, with over half being different forms of medium or high-density housing. Part of the property will be a mix of commercial and R4 residential development along the south side of Highway 13.

One of the defining features of this property is a tributary of the Souris River running through it, which will need to be modified to meet flood protection requirements and also provide for the expansion of the Tatagwa Parkway system.

The first phase is slated for development this year, and future development is slated in different phases from 2014 to 2020.

A third housing proposal was also looked at, this one by the Weyburn Housing Advisory Committee, as they looked at a proposal from Prestige Developments on a parcel of land north of The Creeks and east of the Silver Heights neighbourhood.

The developer has asked the Housing Committee for comments or suggestions about what type of housing would be most appropriate to be developed.

The committee recommended that the developer provide a combination of housing types, including affordable single family dwellings, multi-family dwellings and also something for senior and assisted living housing.



Meantime, the January report from the Building Department shows that three lots were sold by the city, leaving an inventory of 22 residential lots zoned as R1, and no lots for zones R2, R3, R4 or R5.

There were nine building permits issued in January worth a total of $3,896,000, including two single family dwellings worth a total of $841,000. City engineer Rene Richard indicated these two are new homes started in Riverwood, the new housing development on the former Souris Valley grounds.

Last year, there were 10 permits issued in January worth $2,239,000.

The other permits issued included five in the commercial category, including one for $2,270,000.