Client: Town of Slave Lake
Role: Policy Planning, Public Consultation, Zoning Regulations, Urban Design, Illustrations
Year: 2016-2017
Project Description: GSA worked with the Town of Slave Lake to update the Downtown and Main Street Area Plan as well as the Urban Design Handbook and align the Downtown vision with the Town’s Municipal Development Plan.
The project involved an extensive focus on stakeholder consultation including open houses, focus group sessions, online surveys and in-person meetings. The Area Plan establishes a community-developed vision for the Downtown and Main Street areas of Slave Lake. In order to facilitate the development of character-specific policies, the Area Plan boundary has been divided into precincts based on existing and desired built form characteristics.
A detailed implementation strategy was developed to implement the policy framework established through extensive consultation. Catalyst projects within the implementation strategy were identified and categorized by priority based on long-term versus short-term achievability and cost-effectiveness.
The visionary planning policy framework within the Area Plan provides the Town of Slave Lake with a strong redevelopment direction for the Downtown and Main Street areas.
In 2019, GSA received an Award of Planning Merit in the Special Study Category from the Alberta Professional Planners Institute (APPI).