The future of a proposed private development north of Wellock Road is now in the hands of the City of Estevan.
A private developer from Alberta submitted a subdivision request to the City Monday which essentially declares intent to move forward with the much speculated about project. The proposal has been sent to the City's business divisions for their perusal and must eventually be approved by council before it can move forward.
"It looks like the developer wants to proceed. He's come in with his lot layout which is how he plans to develop the area and the City is looking at it right now," said City manager Jim Puffalt.
"I think it would be very positive for Estevan."
Puffalt noted the design is somewhat similar to the one proposed by another Alberta company, Winalta, which went as far as holding an open house in the city to unveil their design for a masterplan neighborhood called the Meadowvale Subdivision. However, those plans never did get off the ground and the land was eventually sold to the current owner.
"This developer is really picking up the best pieces of that design and it looks like they will be bringing that forward, so we are pretty excited about it," said Puffalt.
Housing has been a hot button issue in the city for the past few years as the local economy has experienced boom after boom due largely to high oil prices. The surge in prices has led to a vacancy rate near zero and made finding affordable housing a very tough, but not impossible, proposition.
Although he hasn't been able to pore over the fine details of the proposal, Puffalt feels the new development has the potential to improve the City's housing situation.
"I haven't looked at the specifics of what is going where. The overall design looked good, it tries to address single family, stick built homes ... it would provide more multi-family units. It looks like it is looking after everything," said Puffalt who noted the possible development would also provide more options to the lots offered by the City.
"The pressure won't be all on the City to make sure there is lots available. People will have choices, they will be able to look elsewhere, and we are fine with that. Realistically, as long there are lots available we really don't care who does them as long as they are there and people are getting a fair shake. We do it ourselves or somebody does it, that's great."
Puffalt added it is too early to say how the proposal might effect the City's future plans. There are a handful of lots being developed in the Dominion Heights area and those are expected to be ready for sale this year.
There is also a proposal for the second phase of Dominion Heights which is currently making its way through the City's business divisions. It has been noted in the past that how far the City proceeds with phase two will depend on whether or not the private development becomes a reality.
