Edmonton (Alta.) - 1996-1998 - Plan Edmonton update (1998-05)

EDMONTON'S•MUNICIPAL•DEVELOPMENT•PLAN

Plan Edmonton

ISSUE 5 • MAY 1998

Plan Edmonton Released!

Edmonton's Proposed Municipal Development Plan fter two years of development, the proposed Municipal Development Plan: Plan Edmonton is available for public review. "This sets the stage for a formal public hearing on Plan Edmonton to be held by City Council on May 28th," said Heather McRae, Plan Edmonton project leader.

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Plan Edmonton should be ready for final adoption as Edmonton's new Municipal Development Plan this summer as scheduled," McRae said.

"The Plan Edmonton project team is extremely pleased with the proposed plan, and even though there may be some revisions and fine-tuning, we think we're very close to a 'final' version which City Council and all residents of Edmonton can embrace."

Plan Edmonton is a strategic document which will guide the City of Edmonton's growth into the 21st century It will direct all aspects of the city's physical, economic and social development for the next 10 years and provide direction to the development of more specific, detailed plans by all city departments and agencies.

The development of P lan Edmonton began in the fall of 1996, when City Council identified five key municipal

government responsibility areas which Council viewed as essential to providing a high quality of life for Edmonton residents.

Plan Edmonton is a strategic document uhich loll guide the City of EchnontonS grout!) into the 21st century.

Five policy committees were formed to make recommendations on the strategic priorities for each responsibility area, and to identify desired outcomes that would measure the city's success in meeting the priorities. The policy committee members represented city-wide interests such as community leagues, business groups, the land development industry social, cultural and educational organizations, and services providers.

City staff also participated on the committees.

The strategic priorities were presented at an Open House and public opinion was sought through a variety of means including citizen focus groups and a Citizen's Workbook survey (see "Focus Groups and Workbook" on Page 2).

The proposed Plan Edmonton is structured to reflect the five municipal responsibility areas and the 'requirements of the Municipal Government Act. It also includes an

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implementation section and a section addressing Edmonton's intermunicipal relationship with neighbouring municipalities in terms of land use, transportation and infrastructure planning.

McRae said the type of strategic direction that Plan Edmonton is designed to provide is portrayed in the Land Development Concept Map. The map shows, for example, a new area in southwestern Edmonton where the demand for suburban growth can be accommodated with cost-effective and feasible infrastructure servicing.

Copies of the proposed Plan Edmonton are available for public viewing and review Please see "How to Reach Plan Edmonton" on the back page of Update. •

Focus Groups and Workbook • Citizen's Input ommunity groups, business associations and other stakeholder groups in Edmonton have played a major role in the development of Plan Edmonton, but individuals have been just as important. The Plan Edmonton project team sought the input of citizens through focus groups and a Citizen's Workbook survey.

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In January, Plan Edmonton commissioned an independent consulting firm, Marcomm Communications Ltd., to conduct two focus groups among a selection of citizens who were recruited "at large". The groups were designed to examine whether the key municipal responsibility areas and strategic priorities developed for Plan Edmonton were generally in keeping with the thoughts of Edmonton's residents, and to elicit their opinions on the city's future development.

keeping with their view of an "ideal" Edmonton. The conclusion of the consultant was that overall, the municipal responsibility areas and strategic priorities as developed by Plan Edmonton were in keeping with the general views of Edmonton residents.

The municipal government responsibility areas and strategic priorities were then presented to the general public at an Open House at City Hall, from February 7 to 13th, inclusive. Citizens visiting the Open House were invited to take a copy of a Citizen's Workbook, which outlined the strategic priorities and included a series of questions designed to gather reaction to them, as well as to solicit opinions on the city's future development in general. A total of 62 completed workbooks were returned.

Results were again tabulated and summarized by the consultant.

Respondents to the workbook survey generally were supportive of the strategic priorities identified and the directions set out by Plan Edmonton. All of the suggestions advanced by the focus groups and through written comments in the workbooks were considered by the Plan Edmonton project team, and many have been reflected in the wording of the proposed plan.

All Edmonton residents still have an opportunity to provide their views and opinions on Plan Edmonton. Please see the back page of Update for "How to Reach Plan Edmonton". •

Each focus group included randomly selected adults from a variety of areas in Edmonton. Quotas ensured a mixture of genders and ages in both groups, as well as a variety of occupations. In each session, participants were led through exercises designed to consider whether the directions identified by Plan Edmonton !r strategic priorities and municipal responsibility areas were in

leadership C Regional Cooperation

Infrastructure Development & Maintenance

ally of Life for Residents

Services to People

Municipal Responsibility Areas Ian Edmonton is based on five municipal government responsibility areas essential to supporting a high quality of life for Edmontonians. Plan Edmonton . addresses each of these responsibility areas separately while recognizing the strong inter-relationships among them.

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Planned Growth addresses the municipal mandate to manage land use and development. A physical growth strategy and land development philosophy will meet long-term development needs.

Economic Development focuses on the City's leadership role in creating a positive and dynamic business climate within Edmonton and throughout the Edmonton Capital Region.

Services to People deals with the delivery of City services that contribute to the safety, security, wellbeing and enjoyment of Edmonton's citizens.

Infrastructure Development and Maintenance focuses on the infrastructure strategies and approaches that will enable growthand development to occur in a costeffective and environmentally responsible manner.

Leadership and Regional Cooperation focuses on municipal decision-making and the City's mandate to represent the interests of its citizens. Particular emphasis will be placed on pursuing solutions to regional issues in cooperation with neighbouring municipalities. •

Long Range Financial Plan Nears Corn

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he ability of the City of Edmonton to effectively address the strategic priorities set out in Plan Edmonton will rest on its future financial strength to fund programs and services.

A consulting firm, KPMG, was commissioned to prepare a Long Range Financial Plan to guide financial decision-making to 2008.

It is being prepared in four stages, beginning with an evironmental scan, a financial model examining various scenarios, a look at financial factors affecting the city and finally, proposed policies to address the. financial issues.

Work on the first three stages is largely complete and has provided both "good" and "bad" news for Edmonton. The good news is that economic growth in Edmonton and northern Alberta is expected to remain strong well into the next century, supporting job creation and economic expansion. The bad news, however, is that costs of providing services are growing faster than the City's revenues. The financial model shows that if the City continues with "business as usual" it will have an operating budget gap (i.e. difference between revenues and expenditures) of up to $35 million in 1999, rising to $161 million in 2008. In infrastructure (new and maintained), the gap rises from $111 million in 1999 to $272 million in 2008.

As well, the analysis of financial factors affecting the city suggests that "traditional" financial solutions will not be able to address these gaps. The city faces a limited ability to raise taxes if it is to remain competitive with other major urban municipalities. And while it can afford more self-liquidating debt (ie. borrowing for facilities or services which are revenue generators and which over time will repay the debt), it cannot afford a major increase in tax-supported debt (ie. borrowing for programs, services and infrastructure which does not generate net revenue).

The final phase of the Long Range Financial Plan is the development of proposed policies and strategic approaches which can address the issues and challenges identified in the earlier phases. This may require a full examination of all options available to the city — from pursuing a new revenue-sharing arrangement with the province, to consolidating services and reducing costs where possible, to examining other revenue sources. The final plan is expected to be ready for presentation to City Council on June 23, 1998.•

Preparing Plan Edmonton... Our Timeline and Work Plan WINTER/96

SPRING/97

SUMMER/97

FALL/97

WINTER/97

May 1998

SPRING/98

POLICY AREAS DEFINED PLAN EVIEW

POLICY COMMITTEES FORMED POLICY COMMITTEES DEVELOP STRATEGIC POLICY DIRECTIONS

PUBLIC HEARING

DRAFT PLAN

COUNCIL ADOPTS PLAN AS BYLAW

OPEN HOUSE _

TASKS/ACTIVITIES

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TASKS/ACTIVITIES

RESPONSIBILITIES

RESPONSIBILITIES

Open house.

Steering Committee Plan Edmonton Team

Council strategic priorities established for each key business area.

Council

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Policy Committees struck for each key municipal responsibility area to develop key results desired.

Steering Committee Plan Edmonton Team

Policy Committee planning sessions conducted — key results completed.

Committees Facilitators

0 1 1/ Draft Plan document developed: • strategic priorities; • strategies; and • intermunicipal planning.

Policy implications of strategic priorities and related key results researched.

Plan Edmonton Team Committees

Strategic priorities, key results and policy directions reviewed by Steering Committee.

Steering Committee

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Plan review.

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Public Hearing.

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Adoption by Council.

Steering Committee Plan Edmonton Team

Council Steering Committee

Plan Edmonton Public Hearing Scheduled for May 28 /an Edmonton will become Edmonton's new Municipal Development Plan, as mandated by Alberta's Municipal Government Act. A Public Hearing is scheduled for May 28, 1998, at 9:30 a.m. in Council chambers to allow citizens to express their opinions.

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If you wish to review Plan Edmonton, proposed Bylaw No. 11777, you may view it at the Office of the City Clerk or at the Planning and Development Department.

You may also call Plan Edmonton's 24-hour message line, at 496-6130, to request a copy of the Plan or obtain more information.

If you wish to speak to City Council regarding Plan Edmonton at the Public Hearing you may register with the City Clerk by May 27, 1998. You may also be heard at the Public Hearing when the Mayor asks if there is anyone else wishing to speak. Each speaker is limited to five minutes, whether preregistered or not.

If you prefer to write to City Council, please send your written comments to the Office of the City Clerk before Noon on May 22, 1998. All written submissions received before the deadline will be available for public viewing at the Public Hearing, and in the Office of the City Clerk.

If you would like more information on the Public Hearing and how to make a

presentation, please call the Office of the City Clerk..

New to contact the Office of the Cily Clerk Phone: 496-8178 Fax: 496-8175 3rd Floor City Hall 1 Sir Winston Churchill Square Edmonton, Alberta T5J 2R7 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Mon. - Fri.

Now to reach Plan Mingle" Phone: 496-6130 to leave a message Fax: 496-6028 E-mail: plan @gov.edmonton.ab.ca Internet: http://wwvv.gov.edmonton.ab.ca/ planning/mdp.htm Plan Edmonton Planning and Development Department 7th Floor, MetroNet Tower 10250 - 101 Street, N.W. Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3P4 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Mon. - Fri. If you wish, please call: Gord Jackson, Senior Planner at 496-6117; or Heather McRae, Director at 496-6059

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