City administration is recommending city council advance rezoning of the next four phases of the Whistle Bend subdivision development.

The recommendations were presented to council at its meeting Monday.

Phases 10, 11, 12 and 13 are currently zoned future planning, and council is being asked to rezone the four phases to residential, mixed use and public zones.

The administrative report to council notes Phase 10 will tentatively provide 117 lots for single-family homes or duplexes and 10 multi-family lots.

It will also provide one greenbelt lot, one parks and recreation lot and one public service lot.

Phase 11 will tentatively provide 93 single-family lots and four multi-family lots, says the report.

It’s estimated that phases 12 and 13 of the Whistle Bend development will accommodate 350 units or 850 people.

Administration is recommending that council direct administration to bring forward the two bylaws required to approve the two subdivisions.

Public hearings into the proposed subdivisions were held in October and November 2022, but nobody appeared before council to make submissions.

One written submission was received for each of the subdivision proposals expressing concerns about the increased traffic coming out of Whistle Bend with the subdivision expansions.

The respondent questioned how nine Whistle Bend phases could have already have been approved without addressing the transportation issues created by the development, the report notes.

The administrative report notes planning for the Whistle Bend neighbourhood began in 2006 and included an extensive community engagement process.

The process culminated in the creation of the Whistle Bend master Plan in 2009.

“A Whistle Bend Transportation Network Impact Study was also completed in 2009 to examine impacts on the wider transportation network and help inform the design of Whistle Bend.

The study provided recommendations for four horizons: short-term; medium-term, 50 per cent Whistle Bend build-out, and 100 per cent Whistle Bend buildout.

“The Transportation Master Plan currently being developed will determine if these recommendations are still valid or will recommend alternative options,” says the report.

“Many improvements recommended in the short and medium-term have since been implemented such as the Whistle Bend connector between Mountainview Drive and Casca Boulevard, signal optimizations, signal installations, and transit service enhancements to Whistle Bend,” says the administrative report.

“Further transit enhancements are under design and may be in place in 2023 subject to council approval.”

The report notes a Traffic Impact Assessment was completed in 2010 and updated in 2012 and 2015 as the neighbourhood design began evolving and construction of additional phases began.