Westpark Middle School Relocation & Area Redevelopment Plan updates

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1 June 28, 2016 Westpark Middle School Relocation & Area Redevelopment Plan updates Important news for the community: A new Westpark Middle School will be built just steps away from the current school. While the new school is being built, the current school will remain in operation and then be demolished upon completion of the new school. It is hoped that the Questions and Answers provided here will offer additional information about your community. 1. What is happening with the Westpark Middle School? The new Westpark Middle School will be relocated to a different location on the existing site. A major determining factor in establishing this new location was the goal to greatly reduce the traffic impact on the community. It has been determined that separating the bus traffic from the staff, visitors and parent drop-off areas is a key item. To successfully make this separation occur an off street bus drop off zone will be created on the west side of the school at 57 Avenue. The existing south entrance to the staff parking lot on 55 Avenue will remain and this will become the entrance for the staff parking lot, the visitor parking lot, and the dedicated drop-off lane for parents. By creating these two distinct traffic zones, the impact on the surrounding community will be greatly reduced. As a result of these two areas being created, the location of the school will move towards the south end of the existing football/soccer field. This location will provide a stunning façade along 32Street and bring a clear and defined presence for the school. The City of Red Deer and Red Deer Public Schools hope to work with the local community association to assist with developing a stronger entrance and signage presence for the West Park community. 2. What will be done to address transportation concerns in the vicinity of the school site? A Transportation Impact Assessment (TIA) will be completed for development of the new school. The TIA study will identify the impact to the transportation network and will identify what, if any, improvements are needed to address those impacts (e.g. it will determine whether intersection upgrades are needed at the intersections of 32 Street with 55 and 57 Avenues). When TIAs are completed, they are to consider the principles outlined in The City s Mobility Playbook (reddeer.ca) and take into consideration all modes of transportation vehicle, transit, cycling and walking. 3. Will a bus layby be constructed as part of the development of the new school? The current concept plan for the new school includes bringing school bus traffic right off of 57 Avenue into a bus drop-off/pick-up zone that will be within the school site. This layby will improve traffic flow and reduce school-related congestion on the public roadways surrounding the school. 4. How is parent drop-off/pick-up being accommodated within the site s design? The current concept plan for the new school includes bringing parent drop-off/pick-up zone off of 55 Avenue into the school site. This will improve traffic flow and reduce school-related congestion on the public roadways surrounding the school. 5. What will happen with the landscaping? A prime design and development theory for this project is to create a true destination feature where the community can come and gather. This will be created by enhancing all the existing 1

2 landscaping and site services such as parks, picnic areas, and playgrounds. The plan intends to create a meandering path that will take people to various focal points on the site. 6. Will there be tree replacements? The City of Red Deer supports efforts to protect our urban forest including both formally planted trees and native forest areas. The Westpark Middle School site has various areas of City ownership (south land parcel & roadway setbacks) and Public School lands (land majority). The City protects trees in these two areas differently. The Red Deer Public School District is treated like a private developer in that they have the authority to remove trees from their land parcel without requiring the approval of The City. That said, like a private developer, their development must meet the landscape approval conditions outlined within a development permit. Any City owned trees (including roadway setback trees and trees within the Park parcel), which are being removed to accommodate development need to be pre-approved by The City. The City will require compensation for any removed trees from City owned land. This compensation is approved by The Parks section and can be through tree replacements, financial compensation, or a combination of these. The goal of The City is a no net loss to tree canopy in our community. 7. How will the proposed plan improve the 57 Avenue corridor? The plan will include sidewalk along the west side of the school side, providing a connection from 32 Street to the lane south of Wells Street. The existing landscaping along the west side of the site will be enhanced with development of the new school. 8. How will the proposed plan improve the 55 Avenue corridor? 55 Avenue currently has sidewalks on both sides of the roadway. With development of the new school, the existing landscaping along the east side of the site will be enhanced, based on the final site design. 9. Why are there so many dandelions? The City recognises dandelion control is an issue with various opinions in the community. This difference of views is because the primary method to manage dandelions is to spray pesticides within public parks. Many residents would like to see a complete ban on pesticide use while others would like to see all parks sprayed with pesticides. Municipalities across the globe are moving away from the application of pesticides for controlling dandelions and clover because of the potential human and animal health risks. In 2010, The Province of Alberta amended the Weed Control Act and Regulations to remove dandelions as a weed species which legislatively requires control. Because of the complexity of this issue, Parks completed research into the risks of pesticides and brought the information forward to City Council on Monday May 25, At the meeting, City Council approved an Executive Limitation Policy for restricting where Parks will use pesticides on turf areas (spraying for dandelions). This policy is supported by Parks and compliments our past decisions on limiting herbicide use on turf areas in neighbourhoods, and on school/playground sites. In addition to this policy, The City continues to reduce per-acre pesticide use in accordance with the 2009 Environmental Master Plan. 2

3 There are a number of small changes that will take place with the new Cosmetic Pesticide Use Policy: a. The Parks section will ensure that pesticides containing neonicotinoids will not be used; b. Neighbourhood closes and green spaces in neighbourhoods will no longer be sprayed; c. Performance sports fields & ball diamonds can be sprayed; d. Class A sports fields and ball diamonds can be sprayed (if they are at least 30 metres from a school or a playground); and e. Boulevards along arterial roadways can be sprayed. Aside from areas listed above, no other turf areas are to be sprayed for cosmetic (nuisance) weeds. The areas not affected by the Policy include: a. The treatment of noxious and prohibited noxious weeds; b. Shrub bed weed control; c. Concrete and aggregate surface weed control; and d. Insect and rodent control. City Council s decision to enact a cosmetic use of pesticides policy was supported by Parks and was based on: 1. Previous service levels and practices - This formal policy is reflective of previous service levels provided by Parks. The only changes within the policy are that neighbourhood closes can no longer be sprayed and that Class A Sports Fields can now be sprayed. 2. Concerns over the risks of spraying pesticides, a. Pesticides contribute to Environmental damage and there is a growing amount of evidence that pesticides may contribute to human and animal health issues including links to cancer in animals. b. With over 5,100 acres of parkland, Parks cannot physically restrict people from accessing park sites, we can only post signs and this is not effective for children, pets, and wildlife. c. The cost of non-chemical controls is either not effective or very inefficient when managing large land masses. 3. Enhancing the safety of sports field users. a. Allocating some pesticides to sports fields allows Parks the opportunity to manage some athlete safety and site playability issues. 10. What is going to happen to the Athletic Park? a. Baseball inclusion: Red Deer Minor Baseball Association (RDMBA) has been a partner in the use of the West Park School site for over 20 years. As their association has grown and evolved, their program needs to provide performance-level quality fields for games and tournament hosting have increased. It is anticipated that RDMBA will continue to be a partner on the site and they have been involved in providing feedback on the site concept design to improve the functionality of the site, not just for baseball, but for the school and community as well. b. Food Forest: For clarity, the tree and shrub bed planted at the southwest corner of the site is not a food forest (although some of the plantings do include edibles). This native area was planted as 3

4 part of the CN Eco-connections Grant program. The area has seen a large pocket gopher population which has had a negative impact on the plantings. That said, this area is planned to be retained in a nativescaped (natural) bed. 11. Are the baseball diamonds and soccer/football fields staying on the site? Red Deer Minor Baseball Association (RDMBA) in agreement with The City of Red Deer currently operates the two ball diamonds on the south side of the site. To meet the needs of RDMBA to host tournament events and support their program, The City is working to increase the number of diamonds operated by RDMBA to four. These diamonds and supporting amenities, such as storage and concession, will continue to exist on the West Park school site in cooperation with the school. The school will continue to be able to access the facilities as a part of their curriculum, during school hours. The soccer field currently on the site will no longer be located at West Park, however other CLASS A soccer/football field users will be accommodated at different fields in the city. 12. Will the school be open for community use? The Board of Trustees for Red Deer Public Schools believes that when schools are not being used for the education of our children, they should be made available for use by the community. Red Deer Public School District's facilities are available for community use and many groups in our community take advantage of this opportunity. Westpark Middle School currently has several groups using their facility and the replacement school will continue to be made available for use by the community. 13. What is the West Park Area Redevelopment Plan (ARP)? The West Park ARP was approved by Council April 15, 2013 and consisted of the ARP and a Community Plan. This document identified recommendations for the City and the community to lead the implementation. It was developed with substantial community input. For more information, search West Park ARP on reddeer.ca. 14. What opportunities are available for hosting special events on this site? In addition to the site being used by RDMBA to host games and tournaments during the ball season, the reconfigured school site may also be able to better support other community gathering events including fundraising walks, festivals, neighbourhood block parties, etc. 15. Will there be onsite parking for the community and if so will there be a fee? There will be onsite parking for staff and visitors to the school during school hours, which will be available to the community when school is not in session. There will be no fees attached to this parking. 4

5 16. Is it possible to have a Residential Parking Program initiated? Q&A BACKGROUNDER Yes, a residential parking program is possible. It is typically initiated at the request of residents of the area and requires the residents to agree with the request. 17. Next Steps Red Deer Public Schools and The City of Red Deer held a community check in June 23 to share plans with the community. In association with Red Deer Public Schools, its consultant, Berry Architecture, will be developing a monthly newsletter/project update starting in September, which will be circulated to the school community and will also be posted on the school district website, Once the final project design for the school and site is completed over the summer, The School Board will also share the information with the community in the fall prior to the formal development permit application process. For more information, please contact: Randa Wheaton, RPP, MCIP, AALA, CSLA Senior Planner, Planning Department The City of Red Deer Third Floor, City Hall, Avenue, Red Deer mail to: Box 5008, Red Deer AB T4N 3T4 phone: randa.wheaton@reddeer.ca Proposed School Location 5