Brier Run neighbourhood plan earns first major approval

“There is the leisure, there is residential, there is businesses,” said Varga. “So, it brings all three together.”

The MPC approved the neighbourhood’s area structure plan following a brief questioning period with project manager Ian Hakes, who said it’s been a long time coming to this point.

“We’ve been working on the project for upwards of four years,” said Hakes. “It’s nice to see it finally get approved and moved on to council.”

Brier Run spans roughly 291 acres on Medicine Hat’s north end bordered by Crescent Heights to the south, the Brier Park Industrial Area to the west, Rotary Centennial Way NW to the north, and Division Avenue NW to the east.

That space is slated to be developed into housing, retail, commercial and green space, with the anchor of the project being the Family Leisure Centre and its surrounding athletic facilities.

Half of the land is currently owned by the City’s parks and recreation department and the plan is to set aside 50 percent of the space for recreational areas like trails, pathways, green spaces, and a potential elementary school down the line.

“The Family Leisure Centre and the open space is the crown jewel,” said Hakes. “We’re developing around it with the intention of using the open space and the park space, and focusing on the Family Leisure Centre.”

Area structure plan map of proposed Brier Run neighbourhood (Photo courtesy of City of Medicine Hat)

Single-family homes will be the focus for the southern portion of the neighbourhood, eventually transitioning to more multi-family dwellings closer to the FLC and Rotary Centennial Way.

Between 400 and 500 units would be constructed if the plan goes forward, supporting between 1,100 and 1,200 residents once fully built.

Varga said they consulted with Crescent Heights residents in the years prior, with most wanting to look across the street from other single-family units.

“I think a lot of people stated that they wanted to keep the residential the same as it was on the other side of the back alley and try to keep it that way with the integration of parks being a part of that,” he said.

As for employment, the City is anticipating the neighbourhood’s population will fill between 850 and 950 jobs in Medicine Hat.

Retail establishments will be spread throughout the neighbourhood on the north end of the parcel of land, while a setback line from Methanex and CF Industries means industrial businesses would be set up on the northwest corner.

With only a quick drive between the Brier Park Industrial Area and the Aurora Cannabis plant under construction, Varga said it would be perfect housing for those working in emerging industries.

“That’s part in parcel of when you bring a new industry into the city and you hope that you have enough lodging that’s going to go in there,” he said. That would work perfect into the scheme of things down the road maybe in two or three years when it does take off.”

Although nothing has been finalized, the area structure plan would see work begin on industrial and retail parcels before residential, moving west to east in construction.

There is still no word on what the estimated cost of the development would be or how much a starter home in Brier Run would go for.

“We don’t know the size of the lots yet, we don’t know the overall density yet,” said Hakes. “We’ll take care of that once we move to subdivision and we get a better grasp of what the market is demanding at the time.”

Building off a clustering model for athletics facilities popular in other communities, the Brier Run neighbourhood would be the newest on the north side of the South Saskatchewan River.

Providing services and retail that Varga said is needed for north Medicine Hat residents.

“Right now most of the stuff is in the south,” he said. “So, we hope that it takes off and brings a little bit more of that into the north.”

A public engagement session on the area structure plan will take place on December 3 between 4:00 and 7:00 pm at the FLC, while council could approve the project at their final meeting of 2019 on December 16.

by Scott Roblin

Brier Run neighbourhood plan earns first major approval

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