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Neighbourhood structure plans

A Neighbourhood Structure Plan (NSP) is a required land use concept plan that must be prepared by a developer for any large undeveloped parcel of land generally one quarter section (160 acres) in size or larger that will support approximately 4,000-7,000 people.

The second of five stages in the planning of a new community, an NSP, guides and directs the specific land use, subdivision and development. The NSP provides details on the local street networks; the exact location of schools, parks and pathways; the distribution of housing types; architectural themes and the provision of essential services.

Once an NSP has been approved, the lands will be rezoned. Following rezoning, the individual lots are created through subdivision and then construction of the new neighbourhood will commence.

It is a statutory plan requiring City Council approval. These plans must conform to any applicable major area structure plan and provide a detailed level of planning information (land uses, all road and lane locations, types of residential/commercial/industrial development, number of dwelling units, community trail and park development, utility infrastructure and storm water management facilities, density, etc.) to facilitate subsequent zoning and subdivision decisions.

Administration has prepared a PREPARATION GUIDELINE (PDF) for NSP applications. This has been recently updated to include new plans and policies. The NSP APPLICATION FORM (PDF) contains the initial application requirements for the submission of an applicaton for an NSP.