The expansion of Regina’s Harbour Landing large-scale development project is at risk due to newly approved zoning restrictions around the region’s airport, The Regina Leader-Post reported.

City council approved stricter airport protection zoning, effectively blocking future mid- to high-density residential developments in the area, including the long-planned expansion of Harbour Landing North, according to the Leader-Post.

The changes were introduced in response to concerns from the Regina Airport Authority (RAA) that increased residential growth could limit its operations. However, local developers argue that the expanded buffer zone is unnecessary and will negatively impact housing availability.

“Our site is a form of infill, finishing up a missing piece from the original Harbour Landing,” Emile Beaudry of Beaucorp Ventures told the Leader-Post. “The oversized (airport protection zone) would wrongfully toss our plan in the trash bin.”

Beaudry, whose company owns the 60-acre parcel included in the Harbour Landing North concept plan, was highly critical of the new restrictions.

“Oversizing the airport’s protective zone is dead wrong, on the level of Chicken Little running around screaming about the sky falling,” he told his interviewer.

The new zoning overlay prohibits residential development west and south of the airport and in mixed-use zones of Harbour Landing, Albert Park, Lakeview, and Dieppe Place. In residential-only areas within these zones, new housing projects will be limited to a maximum of two units per lot and must include soundproofing measures, according to the Leader-Post. Property owners will also be formally notified of their proximity to the airport.

The new restrictions override a city-wide rezoning from January that allowed four units as-of-right on lots citywide—an initiative designed to align with the federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) to promote infill housing.

RAA president and CEO James Bogusz told the Leader-Post that the group was not consulted before the city passed the earlier zoning change. The RAA was “adamantly opposed” to that revision, he told the Leader-Post.

“Residential development near an airport always, in every case, inevitably leads to restrictions on an airport,” Bogusz told the Leader-Post. “You always have to mitigate for residents who expect quiet enjoyment of their property.”

Despite exemptions for already approved developments in the Westerra district, the newly restricted area completely blocks the proposed Harbour Landing North expansion. Beaudry urged council on March 26 to consider grandfathering in the project, noting that its concept plan was submitted in 2018 but has remained in limbo pending airport studies.

A letter from Dream Development to city council stated that blocking Harbour Landing North could mean the loss of up to 1,831 new housing units, approximately $5 million in property taxes, and an estimated $166 million in economic impact, the Leader-Post reported.

City officials maintain that the changes strike a necessary balance between residential growth and airport operations, according to the Leader-Post.

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