What may be the final Downtown & West Broadway Corridor Redevelopment Plan was reviewed at the regular meeting of Yorkton Council Monday.
Citing it as a refined and potentially finalized draft of the Downtown and West Broadway Redevelopment Plan, Michael Eger, Director of Planning, Building & Development with the city told Council “At this time, we are seeking approval for a final Public Notice, with intent to adopt at either the Sept. 21 or Oct. 19 meeting.”
Alan Wallace, on behalf of Wallace Insights and V3 Companies of Canada, then reviewed the plan to-date in some detail.
Wallace noted the city last created such a plan in 2005, a much larger and broad ranging document which he suggested was a challenge for it to be effective.
In 2005 the plan was “spread over too large an area. . . It struggled because resources are spread thin,” he said.
As an overarching vision with this plan is that the “Downtown and West Broadway are compact, active, and economically viable areas that reflect the city’s heritage, serve residents’ everyday needs, and give Yorkton a distinct sense of place.”
Within that vision are some core approaches such as to focus investment, build on the heritage of the city core, make the area safe and accessible, and to create more street level activity, detailed the material circulated to Council.
The Plan covers the period stretching out over the next decade – until 2036 – and would be implemented over four time frame associated phases, explained Wallace.
The plan also focuses on four specific areas –the downtown core, the civic and cultural heart with an eye to preserve heritage, strengthen the public realm, reinforce it as a destination.
The second is what Wallace termed the ‘primary intensification area’ PIA, with the idea to concentrate investment, zoning flexibility & incentives here to build momentum. He said Second Avenue looks to be the PIA heart where the city should focus all downtown investment, incentives and priorities.
Then there is the transitional area, “a flexible bridge between Downtown and West Broadway — incremental infill and adaptive reuse.”
And finally, the West Broadway Corridor which the presentation termed “a revitalized commercial gateway — fill gaps, build identity, evolve toward multimodal.”
The West Broadway Corridor needs its own identity with a distinct positioning strategy, separate from and complementary to Downtown, noted the report.
From the public a key would be to land a grocery anchor, by actively attracting an everyday retail anchor to fill a 20-year west-side gap.
Wallace said the plan also calls for the city to suspend downtown parking fees — an $18,000 per year cost on a $40M city budget. At the same time, he suggested the City work with the YBID to free curbside stalls for customers. In addition, while there have been some suggestion to move to one-way streets in the downtown, the plan says not to go that route citing two-way networks support street-level business.
As for implementation when the Plan is fully approved, Wallace said Phase 1, changing policies as needed, moving to free parking, focusing on safety and other initial moves could be made as soon as later this year.
At the end of the presentation Council would authorize Administration to proceed with Public Notification for the Downtown & West Broadway Corridor Redevelopment Plan (August 2026) and that it be brought back to Council at a later date for its review and decision.
