In a way, you could call it the plan for a plan. Saskatoon’s Governance and Priorities Committee was presented with the draft of a plan for developing the district plan for the downtown area, surrounding what could be the arena site. The report from Administration says the district plan will guide the design of the streets, plazas and other public spaces, and will develop a complementary land use plan for the surrounding properties and a plan for transportation components including Bus Rapid Transit. Ian Williamson, senior project manager with the planning and development department, says it will also include a vision statement and guiding principles, which will be foundational in the decision-making.

The proposed vision statement will now be presented to City Council’s Advisory Committees to incorporate their advice and will then be presented again to the Governance and Priorities Committee in March, followed by City Council at the end of the month.

The draft District Plan report, after public engagement, is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year. Lesley Anderson, Director of Planning and Development, says whether or not the arena is built downtown, this district plan has value. “We know the downtown is a very important element of the city and that we need to do new activities in the downtown to ensure its future success and ongoing success, so I think we will have a lot coming out of the district plan which speaks to community desires.”

Vision Statement and Guiding Principles