Residents in College Park will be able to see a potential glimpse into the future of the neighbourhood as the city is set to unveil the draft concept for the College Park Area Redevelopment Plan.
Situated just west of Muskoseepi Park to 106 Street, and 104 and 100 Avenue, College Park first had a redevelopment plan adopted back in September 1999 but hasn’t seen much in the way of heavy development since.
City Planner Alison Downing says the proposed plan will allow for increased density as well as increased housing options.
“The idea would be to allow opportunities for home builders, landowners and people interested in the community to build different forms of housing.”
“It’s a residential mature neighbourhood that has ageing homes, and right now the plan only allows somebody to tear down a single-family home and replace it with another single-family home.”
Downing says residents showed a desire for diversification during two recent phases of public consultation.
“The residents had a mix of wanting to see families and more single-family homes, to wanting to see new development and more [housing] opportunities for students and professionals working at the hospital.”
“There won’t be an addition of too much commercial [development], however, the college has lands that have future opportunities for either college expansion or potential other forms of development.”
Downing adds it is a difficult proposition to keep the feel and aesthetic of one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods when also trying to bring it into modern times with different types of housing options, like walk-up apartments or townhomes.
“Keeping the charm of the neighbourhood isn’t something that happens without a plan, because houses get old and need to be replaced, and if there isn’t an opportunity to do that, the neighbourhood itself won’t sustain.”
The drop-in style information session for the College Park Area Redevelopment Plan will take place on March 12th from 4-7 p.m. at the Ernie Radbourne Pavillion.