This area is for anyone planning to construct an improvement within the Meewasin jurisdiction. Approval is required from the Authority on improvements over $25,000 in Meewasin's conservation zone and any improvement in the river channel or shoreline. Meewawin requires notifiction 45 days in advance of any improvement over $150,000 in the buffer zone (see map).
Development review is the means Meewasin uses to ensure that changes made to the river channel and lands within Meewasin's jurisdiction are compatible with the Authority's development plan. The Authority has adopted the Development Review Policy as part of its development plan. The policy sets guidelines for the construction and review of developments, or what the Meewasin Valley Authority Act calls "improvements". The policy contains guidelines related to Natural Resources, Slope Stability and Drainage, Landscape Construction and Maintenance, River Channel Improvement, Public Access, Design, Traffic and Parking, Service Facilities and Service Maintenance, and Heritage Resources.
What is the Authority's jurisdiction?
The Authority's jurisdiction is limited to certain riverbank lands and the South Saskatchewan River as it flows through the Rural Municipality of Corman Park and the City of Saskatoon. To find out if a particular property is within Meewasin's jurisdiction, the Meewasin Valley Authority may be contacted or the Meewasin Valley Authority Act consulted.
What is an "improvement"?
The Meewasin Valley Authority Act defines and improvement as "a building, structure or service facility constructed, or landscape construction, within Meewasin Valley, or any alteration thereof or addition thereto but does not include the ordinary care, maintenance or repair of a building, structure or service facility or of landscape construction."
What kinds of improvements does Meewasin review?
In the Conservation Zone, Meewasin reviews applications for the following:
- improvements proposed on public land (except the expansion of a water treatment plant or sewage treatment facility).
- improvements proposed on private land and which cost $25,000 or more (except improvements to one and two family residences zoned by the City of Saskatoon as R1, R1A, and R2, and any changes to the interior of a building).
- improvements to the river channel or shoreline.
Improvements on public and private land in the Buffer Zone do not require Meewasin's approval. However, if the total value of the improvement is greater than $150,000, then Meewasin must be informed of the proposed improvement 45 days before construction is started. If the improvement consists of interior renovations or landscape construction, then Meewasin does not need to be notified.
How does Development Review work?
When a person or one of the Authority's participating parties owns or has an interest in a property and intends to make an improvement to that property of the kind that Meewasin must approve, Meewasin's Resource Planning Manager should be contacted early in the planning stage. The Manager will be able to explain the plans, policies, bylaws and regulations which will be used in the review. This information will help the applicant to design the improvement in a manner most likely to meet with Meewasin's approval. The final decision on the application, however, will be made by the Authority.
When Meewasin staff believes that a proposal may not be consistent or in accordance with the development plan, the applicant will be informed immediately. If the applicant wishes, the proposal may be referred to Meewasin's Development Review Committee and the Authority for a preliminary response prior to the submission of a formal application and the preparation of detailed design drawings.
What steps are involved in the review?
- A Development Review Application Form, available from Meewasin, must be submitted. There is a $200.00 fee for applying for development review.
- The application will be reviewed by staff. If any additional information is needed as part of the application, the applicant will be informed immediately.
- Once all information in support of the application has been received and reviewed by staff, the application will be referred to the Authority's Development Review Committee.
- The Committee will review the application at their regular monthly meeting and make a recommendation to the Authority. An applicant may present the proposal to the Committee and the Authority.
- Application reviews are then made public, through advertisement in paper, posting at proposed site, and neighbourhood drop-offs.
- The applicant is notified as to the date it will be forwarded to the board.
- The Authority will review the application in public and the recommendations of the Committee and Staff at its regular monthly meeting.
- Following its review of the application, the Authority will decide to:
- approve the application as submitted if it is consistent or in accordance with Meewasin's Development Plan
- approve the application but make it subject to any terms or conditions that the Authority considers appropriate to ensure that the improvement is consistent or in accordance with Meewasin's Development Plan.
- deny the application if the improvement will not be consistent or in accordance with Meewasin's Development Plan.
- The applicant will be informed in writing of the Authority's decision.
How long does it take to review an application?
The review of an application usually takes between 30 and 60 days, however, a decision on an application must be made within 60 days from the date on which the application, or all information in support of the application, is received.
Can the Authority's decision be appealed?
When the applicant, being a person or participating party, believes that the Authority in making its decision, has misapplied the development plan in relation to the application, or if the applicant feels aggrieved with respect to any terms or conditions attached to an approval granted on an application, the Authority's decision may be appealed to the Meewasin Valley Appeal Board which is constituted independently of the Authority.
