City of Spruce Grove adopts new development plan
New development plan
Spruce Grove is looking to the future now that City Council has adopted a new Municipal Development Plan. The MDP, titled Your Bright Future, unanimously passed third reading at council’s regular meeting on July 12.
The broad-based community plan sets out a vision for growth and change in Spruce Grove. It is based in community sustainability and brings together economic, environmental, and social elements. While the life of the plan is only until 2020 its parameters set vision for what the community could become in 2040.
Your Bright Future was developed through extensive community consultation, and fine tuned by the community and the City working together. Its framework is based on community identified needs for housing, parks, transportation, economic development, culture and heritage, recreation, community design, affordability, environmental management, and governance. The implementation of the plan will impact community members and the quality of life in Spruce Grove.
The path to Your Bright Future began in 2008, with the SpruceGroveQuest workshops, which identified the community’s values and vision for the future. Subsequent consultations included workshops, open houses and a web survey, which collected input on draft policies and the resulting drafts of the plan. Two public hearings gave the public opportunities to speak directly to council about the plan. Youth-specific sessions were included as part of the process.
“This plan represents a significant philosophical shift for our community, said Mayor Stuart Houston. “It also mirrors the maturing of the community as it moves from a bedroom community to a self-contained regional hub with a high quality of life.”
The mayor also noted that the plan truly represents the community’s vision for Spruce Grove because of the way it was developed.
“By involving our community from the grassroots level throughout this process, we have a plan that reflects all of our aspirations for what this city can become,” he said. “This is truly a comprehensive plan that will serve the entire Spruce Grove community
Your Bright Future will be implemented over the next ten years. A central component of the implementation strategy will be a major re-write of the Land Use Bylaw starting in the fall of 2010. The City will also develop indicators and targets to allow for on-going monitoring of the progress the City is making to achieve the community sustainability goals expressed in Your Bright Future. This progress will be reported annually to the community and Council.
[Source: City of Spruce Grove]
