The applicant for 400 acres of land north of Rose Valley has been given another chance to complete a development plan for the area.
After much discussion, council voted to give New Town Architecture one year to resubmit the Raymer Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). There are about 25 property owners in the CDP area, but it鈥檚 unclear how many are interested in participating.
鈥淚鈥檝e only spoken to Keith Funk (New Town), who is a representative of one major land owner,鈥� said Chris Oliver, planning manager. 鈥淚鈥檝e had numerous pre-application meetings with developers looking to do incremental and sequential development.鈥�
Councillor Jason Friesen asked how many landowners wanted to participate.
鈥淲e have one interested party trying to create a CDP for 24 others, of which a good chunk have said they鈥檙e not interested,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been one of the largest challenges to date.鈥�
Funk told council that some landowners are interested in moving forward on their own while others want to retain the CDP. He said preliminary plans include 159 single-family homes and 1,250 other types of housing units.
鈥淲e鈥檙e at a position now where we鈥檙e ready to go forward,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have support from a majority of the development area.鈥�
Discussions about the CDP began in 2011, but there have been ongoing delays, according to a report to council. Early drafts of the city鈥檚 Official Community Plan (OCP) proposed removing the Raymer area due to slow progress.
In May 2023, the applicant assured council the CDP was submission-ready. Based on this, council kept the area in the plan and approved $75,000 in early 2024 for a consultant to help move the project forward. The funds have not yet been used to review the plan.
Councillor Garrett Millsap expressed concern that the project would be back in front of council in a year, consuming more city resources. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a money pit that we don鈥檛 need to spend staff time and staff money on right now.鈥�
In August 2024, New Town sent a letter to the city asking council to keep the Raymer CDP open so it can be completed.
Mayor Gord Milsom was the only one opposed to the one-year extension. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time we make a change,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 keep going down the same route we鈥檝e been on for so long.鈥�
He supported a staff recommendation to bring options for planning the Raymer CDP area as part of future OCP amendments and to close the current CDP file.
鈥淚 appreciate the hard work of everyone involved, but we鈥檙e just not getting the results I鈥檓 sure that many people desire on this file,鈥� he added.
