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Kam Lake development awaits council approval Simon Whitehouse Northern News Services Published Friday, July 13, 2012
City council was provided with a rough layout for a development scheme of Block 501 at the June 25 municipal services committee. A public hearing is now planned during a special council meeting Monday, where council will be asked to adopt the development scheme and rezone some of the land to medium density R3 from R5 - manufactured dwelling, plus some other pieces of land for parks and recreation. While a development agreement has yet to be reached between the developer and the city, city administration is stipulating the developer include a 10-metre buffer between the subdivision and the nearby correctional facility, provide a performance bond of between $600,000 to $1 million in order to complete the site improvements required, and carry the full cost for site services, including: grading, park development, and trail and road improvements. Homes North owner Les Rocher and representatives Kevin Hodges and Walter Orr from FSC Architects and Engineers asked council for $3.8 million in subsidies last October to heap ease the burden of developing the land. The subsidy would have included $600,000 for water and sewer infrastructure to the subdivision boundary; road connections between Kam Lake Road and Coronation Drive; the designing and construction of subdivision parks; $400,000 toward underground water and sewer mains; and $2 million toward asphalt, sidewalks and curb and gutter development. Mayor Gord Van Tighem said these costs will now be covered by the sale of medium density lots. "The manner in which they got rid of the subsidies, you will see in there showing some medium density lots," said Van Tighem of the project plan. "If (the developer) takes a certain proportion of the development and sells the land, that will pay for the things (the developer) is looking for a subsidy for. It was a manner of negotiating how it could happen. So it is all self-funding." Homes North hosted an open house yesterday at city hall, which provided the public a view of the project plan. "The last open house we had a preliminary project plan, but there aren't really a lot of changes to (what the public saw the last time)," said Orr. A timetable was provided to council for future steps in the project, however dates are yet to be determined depending on what comes from Monday's public hearing and council meeting. Van Tighem said he expects work to begin quickly once the development scheme is approved. "The instant that this goes through legislation, there will be housing on lots," he said. "There is a pent-up demand and a pent-A3up willingness to develop. "So if it is in a month, there will be houses in a month and a week. If it is two months, it will be two months and a week."
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