City rezones land under old Arena with conditional sale to New Rock still the plan
By COLLIN GALLANT on October 20, 2022.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant Land underneath the Medicine Hat Arena has been rezoned to allow higher density residential construction on the site, which officials confirm is still the subject of a four-year-old conditional sale with local developers. Council approved the change for land-use for the 50-year-old Arena, which has been decommissioned since 2017. “It’s the next step in what we hope will result in some higher-density development,” said Coun. Robert Dumanowski during discussion and a public hearing on the land-use change. “It signals the prospect of moving ahead with that sooner rather than later.” In 2019, council approved a conditional sale to local development firm New Rock for no cash, but on agreement the city perform $1.5 million in utility upgrades while the company cover the whole cost of demolishing the facility. That was estimated to cost $3 million, while about $400,000 of that would be credited back to the site’s property tax in future years. All dates described in the sales agreement, as well as the tax bylaw, have expired, meaning it will likely have to be updated. The “high-density mixed-use” designation was added to the city’s land-use bylaw this year as planners petitioned council to allow them to approve larger residential apartment or condo-style buildings with ground level commercial or professional offices. Officials have said the style provides the biggest opportunity to create new living units, as well as boost the tax base, in existing neighbourhoods. “It fits with city policy that we should maximize infill development and maximize the potential development of the site,” city planner Robert Sissons said Monday on the specific rezoning. One resident, Corine Korf, was the only person to appear at a public hearing on the matter. Her concern was a map showing a portion of Ash Avenue in the proposed subject area. Sissons responded, saying the existing roadway directly behind the Medicine Hat Curling Club is actually built on land which was never designated as a road allowance when the arena was built in the early 1970s. “It’s a legacy issue, but that (section) will remain a (city) road,” he said of the subdivision plan. The 2019 conditional sales agreement states the city is responsible for subdividing the sit, which is now bordered by a section of the Lions’ Park berm, and has a separate parking lot denoted in design to be retained for the Downtown YMCA location. 15-14
