By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
City of Martensville councillors voted during their March 17 meeting to pass first reading on a bylaw to amend the Official Community Plan in order to adopt the concept plan for the Lake Vista II Development, which has sat on the backburner for several years.
The Lake Vista II Concept Plan was created by the North Ridge Development Corporation for the future development of 167 acres of land north of Lake Vista 1.
The plan calls for the construction of 1,667 dwelling units, which could support a population of approximately 3,964 residents.
Notably, the Lake Vista II development has been contemplated by North Ridge since 2013, according to an administration report.
The concept plan was previously presented to council in 2016 and in 2019, resulting in council ultimately passing a resolution for the concept plan to be incorporated into the Official Community Plan (OCP).
When the OCP bylaw was finally up for adoption in early 2021, however, the developer indicated they wanted to further refine the concept plan, so the matter never went any further.
Years later, the land use map has been refined and certain technical plans have been updated to align with the 2022 Martensville Development Standards. The most significant changes have been to add “tot lot” parks, as well as a larger neighbourhood park with a sports field.
That said, while the concept plan is supported by various background studies and technical reports prepared by experts, some areas of the plan cannot be fully assessed at this time due to the city’s ongoing work with the Emergency Response Plan and Transportation Plan.
“Once these plans are completed, any future additions or modifications to the development area can be evaluated … to better understand and manage potential impacts,” the admin report stated.
It should be noted that city councillors previously reviewed the plan at their March 10 committee of the whole meeting.
Now that first reading has been passed on the bylaw, the city must begin advertising for an upcoming public hearing before second and third readings can be passed.
The Ministry of Government Relations must also approve the plan and the developers will have to draft a master servicing agreement for any infrastructure not already constructed.
ASSESSMENT ROLL
Council also passed all three readings on a bylaw to extend the opening of the assessment roll, which will facilitate the combined mailing of assessment and tax notices.
As noted in an administration report, the city has mailed assessment and tax notices together to property-owners since 2019.
This practice assists in providing all relevant property assessment and taxation information to property-owners at the same time, resulting in less confusion and cutting down on mailing costs.
However, the Cities Act requires the Assessment Roll to open on April 1 each year. Thus, a bylaw to extend the opening to May 15 was needed to allow the combined mailing to happen normally.