Westheath Concept Plan, Servicing Scheme & Southwest Future Growth WESTHEATH PHASES 5 AND 6 Development Concept Plan, Servicing Scheme & Southwest Future Growth This report is prepared for The City of Moose Jaw in response to a request for a new development concept and servicing scheme for the final two phases of the Westheath residential neighbourhood located in the South-West area of Moose Jaw. Final Report August 2, 2018 Westheath Concept Plan, Servicing Scheme & Southwest Future Growth Acknowledgements V3 wishes to thank the following members of the City of Moose Jaw for their contribution, advice and guidance through the concept planning process. Michelle Sanson Director of Planning & Development Josh Mickleborough Director of Engineering Ted Schaeffer Director of Parks and Recreation Eric Bjorge Assistant City Planner V3 Staff Project Lead – Alan Wallace, MCIP Design Lead – Nick Pryce, MCIP Engineering – Steve Reichert, P.Eng; Jim Boss, R.E.T. Planner – Nik Kinzel-Cadrin Urban Designer – Aman Jhawer Assistance This project was completed with the assistance of: Thurber Engineering Ltd. (Saskatoon) McElhanney Land Surveys (Regina) CanNorth Environmental (Saskatoon) Westheath Concept Plan, Servicing Scheme & Southwest Future Growth Executive Summary Westheath is a city-owned and developed neighbourhood located in the south-west area of Moose Jaw. Phases 1-4 are now substantially completed, and the City of Moose Jaw wishes to proceed with subdivision, servicing and sale of the remaining 35 acres in Phases 5 and 6. This area was originally approved for subdivision in the 1970’s. It was the desire of the City of Moose Jaw to review the design and to apply the latest trends and design features which are now being constructed in new neighbourhoods. The initial screening and testing results indicate that Westheath, Phase 5 and 6 lands, is very developable with very few constraints affecting development of the land. The market assessment indicates that Moose Jaw is expected to experience growth and increased economic development which will create new jobs in the short term. The number of building permits for housing is projected by V3 to average 122 permits per year over the next 5 years. V3 produced three development concepts for public review, comment and suggestions from the general public. A Public Open House was held on June 7, 2017 at Sacred Heart School near the Westheath lands. Over 50 people attended and left 22 written comments. V3 used the public engagement, as well as input from City administration, to produce a final recommended development concept as described in Section 8 of this report. The preferred concept contains the following main attributes: • A residential development comprised of two phases with 82 single family lots and 12 townhouse units in Phase 5, and 56 single family lots and 12 townhouse units in Phase 6. • A centralized linear park feature, providing park and trail access to residents throughout the area. • 138 single family residential lots, with 45 and 50-foot frontages to accommodate a variety of housing designs. • Four Townhouse sites to accommodate approximately 24 low-density, street-oriented housing, suitable for moderate income households. • A development density of 4.69 dwellings per gross acre. • Inclusion of sidewalks adjacent to parks and connected to pedestrian routes and streets. • Treed boulevard on Wellington Drive, with separated sidewalk to encourage walking by making it more comfortable along this main collector roadway. • This same feature is also included along the eastern edge of the proposed park. • Inclusion of small bioswale areas along the southern boundary of the park, which helps with stormwater runoff and reduces maintenance costs. • The existing playground is relocated to a more centralized location within the park. • Rotary Trail connection is enhanced by connecting the trail to Everton Crescent. Westheath Concept Plan, Servicing Scheme & Southwest Future Growth • Future connections to a potential SW future growth area are shown on this plan, however, the final decision to grow in this direction has not been made. In the event that development does not continue in the SW, the plan can be amended to convert the pieces of roadway into single family lots. The subdivision features are described in greater detail in Section 8. The Recommended Concept Plan Map is located in Section 6.0. The Westheath 5/6 subdivision has been designed with two key requirements as directed by the City’s Administration: 1. The subdivision is to incorporate many new features and become a valuable addition to the Westheath community, adding amenities for the entire neighbourhood. 2. The subdivision, like all land development projects, was designed to keep costs to a minimum and achieve a reasonable return on investment for the City of Moose Jaw. From a financial standpoint, Westheath 5/6 is expected to yield a reasonable economic return to the City of Moose Jaw. At the present time, development charges are set at $32,000 per acre. Development costs per single family lot are expected to be in the order of $70,832. This means that the City of Moose Jaw will be covering approximately $38,028 in development costs to service this area. However, the market price for single family lots is expected to be set at $85,000. This may be a conservative estimate given lot prices elsewhere. Since this is a city-owned subdivision, the expected net revenue could be in the order of $1,955,172 for 138 single family lots, and 158,628 for the townhouse sites. The combined net revenue is estimated to be $2,113,800 for Westheath 5/6. This estimate is described in more detail in Section 8.0. Westheath Concept Plan, Servicing Scheme & Southwest Future Growth Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT ...................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Location........................................................................................................................ 1 1.3 Official Community Plan .............................................................................................. 2 1.4 Opportunities and Constraints .................................................................................... 3 2.0 SITE SCREENING RESULTS .............................................................................................................................................................. 4 2.1 Natural Area Screening ................................................................................................. 4 2.2 Heritage ......................................................................................................................... 4 2.3 Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment ...................................................................... 4 2.4 Geotechnical ................................................................................................................. 4 3.0 MARKET ASSESSMENT SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................. 5 3.1 Population Profile ......................................................................................................... 5 3.2 Current Housing Market ............................................................................................... 6 3.3 Rental Market Breakdown ............................................................................................ 7 3.4 Non-Rental Market Breakdown .................................................................................... 8 3.5 Housing Type ............................................................................................................... 10 3.6 Market Forecast .......................................................................................................... 11 Westheath Concept Plan, Servicing Scheme & Southwest Future Growth 3.7 Market Assessment Conclusions & Recommendations ............................................. 13 4.0 DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS ........................................................................................................................................................... 14 4.1 Principles Used in Design ............................................................................................ 14 4.2 Overview of 3 Options ................................................................................................ 14 5.0 SUMMARY OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT ............................................................................................................................................ 18 5.1 Engagement Overview ................................................................................................ 18 5.2 Public Engagement Session......................................................................................... 19 5.3 Feedback Summary ..................................................................................................... 20 5.3.1 Cross Sections .......................................................................................................... 22 5.3.2 Public Engagement Comment Cards ....................................................................... 23 5.4 Recommendations for Detailed Preferred Concept ..................................................