YORKTON, Sask. — Yorkton residents will soon have an opportunity to review and comment on a proposed long-term vision for the city's downtown and West Broadway corridor after council approved moving a redevelopment plan forward for public notice.
Council received a presentation from consulting firm Wallace Insights during its Aug. 31 meeting outlining a proposed 10-year strategy focused on encouraging investment, housing growth, business development and public-space improvements.
The draft would replace the city's current redevelopment strategy, adopted in 2005.
Consultant Alan Wallace said the plan is centred on concentrating investment within a defined area rather than spreading resources too broadly.
"The big idea," Wallace said, "is that downtowns struggle when investment is spread too broadly rather than focused where it can generate momentum."
The proposed plan identifies a primary intensification area within the downtown core where future incentives, infrastructure spending and redevelopment efforts would be concentrated.
According to the report, the strategy reflects Yorkton's role as a regional hub of approximately 16,000 residents serving a trade area of more than 84,000 people.
Community engagement included an online survey that received 492 responses, with 78 per cent coming from Yorkton residents. Participants identified downtown's walkability, heritage buildings and small-town feel among its strengths while also expressing interest in additional shopping, dining and entertainment options.
Respondents also cited vacant buildings, safety concerns and a lack of identity along West Broadway as areas requiring attention.
Recommendations include attracting a grocery store to west Yorkton, strengthening connections between downtown and destinations such as the Gallagher Centre and Painted Hand Casino, and improving infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users along West Broadway.
Downtown-focused recommendations include encouraging redevelopment and housing growth, preserving heritage buildings, expanding façade improvement programs and enhancing public spaces through lighting, streetscape improvements and public gathering areas.
The plan also proposes suspending paid parking downtown, describing parking management primarily as a customer service tool.
Mayor Aaron Kienle said the proposal builds on work that shaped the downtown roughly two decades ago and offers an opportunity to update the city's approach to redevelopment.
"The plan for the downtown, which you see all of the flowers and the stamped concrete and all the things, the light standards that make Yorkton's downtown quite attractive, was from a plan 20 years ago," Kienle said.
He said the updated strategy could provide greater flexibility through planning policies, zoning and bylaws aimed at encouraging investment and redevelopment.
Kienle also pointed to public feedback supporting initiatives that would draw more people into the downtown core.
"It was really good to hear all of the feedback that was provided by residents and business owners," he said, noting suggestions such as farmers markets, night markets and community events that would encourage more activity in the city centre and support local businesses.
A phased implementation schedule would begin with lower-cost initiatives, including events, safety improvements, policy changes and façade grants, before advancing to larger infrastructure projects and redevelopment incentives later in the decade.
Targets outlined in the document include reducing vacancy rates, increasing foot traffic, adding more than 100 residential units in the downtown core and securing a grocery store on the city's west side by 2035.
Council approved proceeding with public notice, allowing residents and stakeholders an opportunity to provide feedback before a final decision is made.
