Regina Revitalization Initiative - Railyard Renewal Project

The City of Regina’s Railyard Renewal Project (RRP) is part of the city’s Regina Revitalization Initiative (RRI), the largest revitalization project in the city’s history. Regina will develop a sustainable neighbourhood action plan (SNAP), in concert with a secondary plan to the city’s Official Community Plan (OCP), to identify actions in the redevelopment of an 18-acre former CP Rail intermodal yard, a brownfield in the centre of the city. Due to the complex nature of this city-building initiative, the development of the SNAP will stem from stakeholder interviews, online consultation events, open houses, online questionnaires, and city council presentations. An interactive multi-phase design charrette will also bring staff, landowners, and other key stakeholders together to confirm land use and urban design directions for three proposed redevelopment concepts. The SNAP will include an environmental remediation strategy and financial analysis of each of the redevelopment concepts. An additional technical assessment of the current conditions of the site will include a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, as well as a risk, transportation, noise and vibration, utilities, and environmental analysis. The Secondary Plan will identify methods to measure progress toward the SNAP’s specific targets. An annual report card will track progress on affordable housing, open space construction, tree planting, green buildings, and tax revenues. Both during construction and once redevelopment is complete, surveys will measure energy consumption, non-auto trips by residents and resulting impacts on surrounding businesses, as well as the use of new retail and community facilities by residents in surrounding neighbourhoods. As owner of the site, the City is in a position to ensure that redevelopment supports sustainability objectives. The RRP aligns with various existing plans and policies, such as the city’s Downtown Neighbourhood Plan, which guides the direction of plans in the City Centre. It is recognized that the City may ultimately sell the land related to the project once the planning work is completed. The plan will assess options for active transportation through segregated bike lanes and pedestrian connections to the downtown core, as well as provide direction on the use of the highest standards of energy efficiency (i.e. LEED or equivalent standards) for all new buildings. Designated parkland, permeable open spaces, tree planting targets, and percent of buildings containing green roofs will also contribute to stormwater management practices. Social and economic-based actions include greater diversity in housing choices in the city with specific minimum targets for affordable housing among new residences (minimum 10 %). In addition to containing guidelines and policies for redevelopment, the final plan for the Railyard site will outline a development strategy with short-term actions intended to kick-start private development. City Council will be updated at key points in the planning process, and final plans will be presented to the Planning Commission and Council for review and adoption. The approach of the initiative is innovative with the systematic consultation of a broad spectrum of stakeholders in public meetings and council presentations which will support sustainable redevelopment of brownfields. (Project description from original funding application)