Regina committee holds special Monday meeting on city centre core framework, heritage policy
The items weren't discussed at last week's meeting due to time constraints
Regina's executive committee is holding a special meeting to finish the agenda from their March 17 meeting.
Typically, items put off or unfinished at a meeting are simply pushed to the next. However, there are city council meetings scheduled on March 24 and March 31 so the committee needs to finish these items ahead of time. The meeting is set to start at 5 p.m. CST.
Two items are on the agenda: the City Centre Core Framework and Action Plan and interim heritage conservation policy.
The framework and action plan is meant to give a collective vision for the core's organizations to create a co-ordinated process to find complementary land uses and infrastructure to support development in the city centre core and draw 10,000 people to the area.
The city centre core is defined in the plan as the Yards Neighbourhood, Regina Warehouse area, downtown, lands managed by the Regina Exhibition Association Ltd. (REAL), Taylor Fields lands and Saskatchewan Drive area.
The city has infrastructure near the end of its useful life or at its capacity limits, and upgrades are needed but a short construction season and being a four-season city creates new challenges, a report says.
To start, the policy focuses on intensification in the city centre. Then it looks to build infrastructure — such as water, wastewater and roads — to lay the foundation for future development. The action plan will also create an advisory committee of council to guide the neighbourhoods to work on ideas.
"Opportunity for development exists in these land areas, with an ample availability of land in a
location with proximity to entertainment, greenspace, and major amenities," city administration said in a report. "The heart and hub of our city, these areas will be alive, healthy, safe, strong and resilient."
Heritage interim policy creates third-party review
The heritage conservation interim policy would have a third-party review process for heritage evaluations and assessments — composed of qualified heritage consultants or architects — before a proposal goes before city council.
This is an interim policy as the city is currently working to review it's Heritage Building Rehabilitation Program, with the review set to be complete at the end of 2021.
"In the interim, administration is proposing several changes to address gaps within existing processes in order to build trust in the evaluation process and ensure properties with significant heritage value are identified and protected," the report said.
Some other changes are that the city would bring in an annual visual inspection program to look at the outside of all designated heritage properties. As well, any demolition applications for properties built before 1940 would trigger a heritage value screening.