At the August 26, 2019 City Council meeting, Administration received approval to continue discussions with the Ministry of Education in response to the Ministry’s request to use a portion of the Kinsmen Park South as a parking lot to support the construction of a joint-use school on the current Argyle School and L’Arche Park site. It is noted that L’Arche Park is owned by the Government of Saskatchewan (Province holds the land title), and the City of Regina (City) maintains two baseball diamonds on these lands.
As part of the approval to continue discussions, Administration was to return to City Council with the results of a community consultation completed by the Ministry regarding the use of a portion of the Kinsmen Park South for a proposed parking lot. Other conditions of continuing the discussions were as follows:
1. Continuing discussion around the use of the Kinsmen Park South for parking does not constitute approval of a prospective joint-use school.
2. The City must remain whole with respect to loss of land.
3. The Ministry would be responsible to re-build lost City recreational facilities at its cost.
4. All upgrades to infrastructure would be the financial responsibility of the Ministry.
The community consultation consisted of a broadly circulated survey and Open House hosted by the Regina Public and Separate School Boards; the summarized results are attached as “Appendix A”. Administration has come to an agreement in principle with the Ministry regarding the provision of land, the replacement of recreational facilities and other financial responsibilities of the Ministry should City Council approval be granted to transfer a portion of the title for Kinsmen Park South land for use as a parking lot for the proposed joint use school.
If approval to transfer title of a portion of the Kinsmen Park South to use as a parking lot is granted, the Ministry is still required to submit a building permit application to construct the parking lot, and meet all development conditions including setbacks, paving, drainage, lighting and potential studies required to ensure the compliance of the proposed parking lot and the joint-use school with City bylaws.
The construction of a parking lot within Kinsmen Park South is estimated to utilize an area of approximately 1.2 acres (.489Ha), see Appendix B for map of the affected area. As well, two programmable ball diamonds would be lost due to the construction of the joint-use school on the Argyle School site, as well as a loss of 3.53 acres (1.429Ha) of public greenspace which is currently L’Arche Park.
In exchange for transfer of title for a portion of the Kinsmen Park South, the Ministry has agreed in principle to replace the approximate 4.73 acres (parking area and L’Arche Park) with land from the St. Pius School site and provide two ball diamonds of equal quality to those that are lost.
In addition, the Ministry has stated the parking lot that would be constructed on the portion of the Kinsmen Park South, would be available as parking space during off-school hours. As well, any upgrades to infrastructure related to the parking lots and joint-use school will be the financial responsibility of the Ministry.
Not approve the transfer of a portion of Kinsmen Park for use as a parking lot.
Should approval not be granted to transfer title of a portion of the Kinsmen Park South for parking, the Ministry has indicated it would look at accommodating parking within the joint-use school site (current Argyle School site and L’Arche park) which would result in a potential loss of two programmed ball diamonds and green space associated with the L’Arche park. The City would use its best efforts to work with the Ministry to have the ball diamonds replaced, however the City would not be able to ensure this happens. The removal of and non-replacement of the ball diamonds provides a negative impact on the City programming for the area and potential use of green space in the area.
If approval is granted, Administration will continue to work with the Ministry to prepare a formal agreement. A subsequent communication strategy for the public will be determined once a formal agreement has been executed.
Together the Regina Public and Regina Separate School Boards conducted community consultation by sending out a total of 3,402 surveys within the Kinsmen Park South area and received 200 responses via email and hardcopy. An open house, hosted by the School Boards, also provided residents of the community the ability to get more information and provide their opinions in person.
The 200 responses provided the following results:
In Favor 117 (58%)
Opposed 80 (40%)
Unsure 3 (1.5%)
A summary of the results is attached as “Appendix A”.
Negotiations between the City and the Ministry have resulted in an agreement in principle that the Ministry will:
· Provide the City approximately 4.73 acres of park lands/green space in the neighborhood with land at the St. Pius school site.
· Provide two programmable ball diamonds of equal quality to those lost at L’Arche Park.
The direction from City Council, as a result of this report, pertains only to the transfer of title of a portion of Kinsmen Park South (approximately 1.2 acres) in exchange for title of approximately 4.73 acres of greenspace and 2 programmable ball diamonds to support the development of the proposed joint-use school. The development of the joint-use school will require its own building approval process and will be subject to the City building permit application process.
DECISION HISTORY
On August 26, 2019 City Council authorized Administration to continue discussions on a potential joint-use school site in the Lakeview neighbourhood based on the proposed terms specified, including:
1. The use of part of Kinsmen Park South as a parking lot does not constitute approval of a prospective joint-use school.
2. The City must remain whole with respect to the loss of land.
3. The Ministry would be responsible to rebuild lost City recreational facilities at its cost.
4. All upgrades to infrastructure would be the financial responsibility of the Ministry.
The recommendations contained within this report require City Council approval.
Respectfully Submitted, Respectfully Submitted,
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