Planning Process
The planning process for developing the Master Plan was designed to be quick but comprehensive, and involved many opportunities for public input. The process included stakeholder group meetings, a Community Walk, BBQ, and a design charrette. In total, over 300 people participated in this process! The Master Plan includes a number of action items that are to be implemented in order to achieve the stated 20 year vision of the Plan.
Next Steps
The City has begun work to implement the Master Plan, which includes (in order of priority):
- Change zoning (completed)
- Make bare land available for development (underway)
- Improve neighbourhood parks (see Sixth Avenue & Jeckell Street Playground Redesign)
- Establish Lower Escarpment Trail
- Construct pedestrian improvements – corner bulbs, amenities
- Construct Gateway Promonade area improvements
- Implement traffic-related improvements
- Build stairs connecting to Upper Escarpment Trail
A priority is placed on making land available for development so revenue from land sales can be used to fund improvements to public amenities.
Background Information
The ‘Downtown South’ neighbourhood is the area that rests north-south between Lambert Street and Robert Service Way, and east-west between Second Avenue and the escarpment. Click here to view a map of the planning area. The project was identified following adoption of the Downtown Plan in 2007.
The Charrette Background Document contains information on the study area and helped to guide the charrette teams as they worked to develop concepts. Sections of the document include: stakeholder interviews, community walk results, background maps, and research on underutilized sites research.