Do cheap tin buildings belong in downtown Morinville? What about sidewalk cafés? These were some of the questions raised last Thursday at Morinville's Community Cultural Centre as residents turned out in force to shape the future of the town's downto
Do cheap tin buildings belong in downtown Morinville? What about sidewalk cafés?
These were some of the questions raised last Thursday at Morinville's Community Cultural Centre as residents turned out in force to shape the future of the town's downtown core.
Staff opened walls and hauled in chairs as a mob of about 65 people turned out the first open house on the Coeur de Morinville area structure plan. The plan, when finished, will set legal guidelines governing how the heart of Morinville grows over the next few decades.
The finished plan should definitely have architectural guidelines for how buildings look – guidelines that build off the look of the St. Jean Baptiste Church, said resident Joey Gierulski.
"It's the identity of the town. It's the heritage," he said.
Morinville has a lot of beautiful buildings, he continued, but also a lot of vacant lots and windowless tin structures.
"The goal of this plan is to beautify and make [downtown] a welcoming civic area. How do you do that with tin buildings?" he said.
Why do it?
Area structure plans (ASPs) set out what kinds of development should happen in a region, and typically feature guidelines for how buildings, streets and neighbourhoods will look (often in the form of illustrations).
The Coeur de Morinville ASP covers the length of Highway 642 (100 Avenue) as it runs through Morinville as well as 100 Street between 105 Avenue and 95 Avenue.
Morinville's current downtown plan was done in 1984 and is pretty out of date, said project consultant Vicki Dodge. This new one is meant to account for ideas contained in the town's municipal development plan and new groups like the Capital Region Board.
"This is not about a quick fix," Dodge emphasized, and it's not a revitalization plan. It won't create sweeping changes tomorrow, and, contrary to what some local businesses had heard, it won't require businesses to plunk down cash and redo their façades.
It will, however, make sure new developments or renovations fit the plan.
The plan itself will have broad rules about appearance and development that council will use when evaluating development proposals. If the proposals don't fit the plan, they'll be less likely to get approved.
A big goal of this plan is to spruce up downtown to attract more business, Dodge said.
"People like attractive places to live. They want to invest in attractive communities," she said.
She suggested the town can do this by creating distinct public places where people can hang out, with St. Jean Baptist Church being a good example.
The plan will also create guidelines for historic buildings, Dodge said.
"Currently, if someone owns a heritage structure, they can knock it down and there's nothing anybody can do about it," she said.
(Town council could deny the owner's development permit to stop the demolition, but they are not required to do so. Council did that with the historic Billo house last year after intense public pressure.)
"They add a lot of charm and character to this community," Dodge said of heritage sites, and it's important that they be protected.
The ASP should also simplify development downtown. Right now developers need the approval of both Alberta Transportation and the town before they make any changes to properties along Highway 642, which is an administrative headache, Dodge explained. Should the province approve of this ASP, developers would no longer have to seek its approval so long as their proposals followed the ASP.
Early days
The ASP itself has few details right now, Dodge said, as the project team is waiting for the town and the province to finish the Highway 642 functional planning study. That study will hammer out details such as street widths they'll need to design a new look for downtown.
Elizabeth Makohonyk lives in the downtown core and hopes the plan will keep it the way it is now: mostly residential with a few shops.
"That helps for walkability a lot, and that's one of the reasons I moved here," she said.
She doesn't want to see any more gas stations or liquor stores, though, and hopes to keep buildings under three stories tall.
She also hopes to see more done to preserve and promote historic buildings like the old hotel by Sobey's.
"I think the town should at least designate it as a historic site," she said. "I'd hate to see Morinville lose its unique character."
Gierulski said he hopes the plan will make downtown more attractive to pedestrians. Still, the town has to be careful not to go overboard with stop signs on Highway 642, he said.
"It is still a highway, and it still needs to maintain functionality."
Dodge said she plans to collect ideas for the plan over the summer and hopes to have a draft ready for council by the fall. She's planning a second open house for then.
Full details of the plan are available at www.morinville.ca.
