Town of Innisfail

Outcome:

With a concise and targeted industrial strategy in hand, Innisfail is prepared to guide and support development that will ensure Innisfail remains a complete community that has high quality jobs for present and future residents, as well as a diversified tax base.

Town of Innisfail

Challenge: Industrial Development

Having so much industrial development that your community finds itself running out of space is arguably a great problem to have, but it is still a problem. Once traditional industrial areas have been filled, communities are tasked not only with finding new areas for development, but also with ensuring that development is competitive in the Central Alberta economic context.

The Town of Innisfail has seen significant industrial growth over the past decade and is now facing the challenge of developing new industrial areas. Attempting to determine where and how that development should take place requires careful consideration of the Town's plans as well as the development of progressive policy to ensure that Innisfail is competitive with their neighbours.

Solution:

PCPS provided indepth qualitative and quantitative analysis of the Town's industrial development prospects in order to understand the challenges and opportunities facing Innisfail's industrial development. We worked closely with Council to create feasible policy directions.

Town of Ponoka

Outcome:

Having the operations of the department taken care of allowed the Town to take its time finding high quality replacement staff, and has resulted in the Town joining PCPS as a new member municipality.

Town of Ponoka

Challenge: Staff Shortages

Finding and retaining experienced staff is a challenge all employers face. This challenge can be magnified in small organizations where entire departments are made up of only a few staff members. When staff move on a large gap is left within the organization.

The Town of Ponoka had lost both staff members from their planning department in short succession. This left a major interruption in service delivery and expertise for the municipality.

Solution:

PCPS was able to quickly offer the Town of Ponoka relief planning staff to help maintain service levels as they began recruiting replacement staff. PCPS provided in office support for day-to-day operations of the department, permit and subdivision processing, and developer and stakeholder meetings.

Village of Delburne

Outcome:

Collaborating with the Village and Steering Committee, PCPS was able to identify engagement opportunities specific to the Village, provide customized support, and create transparency in the process. This led to Council taking on a more involved role, opened up greater dialogue with the community regarding the major changes being proposed, and allowed for an informed adoption of the updated Land Use Bylaw.

Village of Delburne

Challenge: Land Use Bylaws

The Village of Delburne was proposing a number of major changes to the Land Use Bylaw to address community planning issues and shortfalls within the existing LUB. It was important to the Village to maintain transparency throughout the process and to balance public concern with healthy community planning.

Solution:

To provide the community with extended opportunities to understand development within the Village and the Land Use Bylaw, review the proposed changes, ask questions and discuss concerns, and provide constructive feedback.

PCPS worked with and supported the Village of Delburne to provide public awareness and consultation opportunities. These included:

  • A PCPS and Village hosted Open House that showcased visuals to illustrate proposed changes to the LUB and gather community input on specific planning topics. The visuals used during the Open House, panels and maps, were then showcased in various locations and events throughout the Village during the extended consultation process.
  • PCPS provided distribution materials such as handouts outlining key changes to the LUB and information on development permits and posters advertising the LUB review, how to get involved, and the various opportunities to provide comments.
  • PCPS attended Snowflake Saturday, an annual community event, to interact with the community providing information on the draft LUB, answer questions, and gather comments.
  • PCPS attended a special Council meeting prior to the Public Hearing to present the draft LUB, outline changes that came about from public consultation, and answer questions from Council and the community.