‘We don’t want this’: White City residents pushing back against rental development proposal

A 200 rental townhome proposal faces criticism from residents who say changes could alter the community’s long-term vision. Donovan Maess reports.

White City, Sask. residents are pushing back against a proposed expansion to a new subdivision.

Taylor de Gooijer first moved to the town with his wife in 2022.

“We were renting in Regina, looking for a place to kind of settle down long term,” he said. “And we chose White City.”

Growing up in a small town, the de Gooijers enjoy the community’s small-town feel, but are worried that character may be in jeopardy due to the proposal of a new development.

“The community is really great. Neighbours are friendly,” he said. “It’s interesting in some of these developments, they’re bigger than my entire town.”

The proposal from developer Royal Park Estate Group hopes to build 200 new townhome-style rental units in the south-western corner of White City.

When completed, the development will include townhomes featuring a mix of one, two and three bedroom layouts. The proposal also plans for approximately 400 parking stalls and garage spaces.

The ‘Royal Park’ subdivision has already begun the first phase of construction, building several detached show homes. The rentals would expand the development.

“[Lifestyles] are changing,” Royal Park Developments senior advisor Jeffery MacPherson said at a town public hearing Monday. “The kind of housing people actively choose, rental housing, is increasingly a deliberate choice, not a follow up.”

However, the proposal does not currently fit the area’s current zoning bylaws and would require amendments before moving forward.

“The design of these particular townhouses are, what we might say, more upscale than what you might see elsewhere,” White City deputy Mayor Ken Kolb told CTV News Friday. “They’re being designed with garages, recreation amenities and those sorts of things to create a little community here.”

Town administration has prepared draft amendments required for the OCP including:

• Clarifying residential designations for Multi-Unit Medium Density Residential.
• Updating the Town Centre Concept Plan Map.
• Updating the Future Land Use Map to match the designation of the lands in the proposed Boundary Alteration to “Future Urban Residential” to match the designation in the RM of Edenwold’s Future Land Use Map which has designated the lands as “Residential.”

“These type of builds, especially in the town centre, are really as a result of the town centre neighbourhood plan that was developed back in 2014,” said Kolb. “Things like townhomes, apartments, multi multifamily, multi story type of buildings was always the vision for what the town centre was going to be.”

To amend the OCP, White City was required to host a public hearing for residents – which was held Jan. 5.

More than 30 residents spoke in person against the proposal with another 100-plus making written submissions.

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“We wanted a space, quiet and a low crime community built around families, not around rental apartments,” said Robert Gosling.

“We do not need 200 more rentals,” Karen McCurry added. “Quite simply, we want White City to retain its special small-town community feel.”

“It really needs to be weighed against the social cost that impacts our communities,” Gordon Giles said.

Kolb said the vocal opposition was expected.

“It’s always good to hear back from the community on things like these that are important for the community to have some say in,” he said. “It’s also important for communities to understand the whole development process.”

Residents also created a petition which garnered nearly 1,000 signatures which called for a referendum on the issue.

However, according to provincial legislation, municipalities cannot conduct referendums or plebiscites under the Planning and Development Act.

“We were prepared to go forward with the referendum and have the vote,” Kolb said. “However, it was misaligned to the legislation and really wasn’t something that was permitted.”

The ‘Royal Park’ subdivision is more than one kilometre away from the town’s next nearest home.

Royal Park says the expansion will help address the province’s growing housing deficit.

“Canada needs approximately 5.8 million additional housing units by 2030. In Saskatchewan, it’s projected to need between 60 and 80,000 units,” MacPherson said. “National and provincial analysis shows that nearly half of the new housing supply must come from housing types like complexes, row housing and apartments.”

De Gooijer hoped council’s decision aligns with the dozens of residents who voiced their opposition.

“When there’s a big change like this, rewriting the density framework, to the OCP, that warrants really careful consideration by council,” he argued. “What the community is saying is, pretty loudly, ‘we don’t want this.”

“So as council is saying, ‘We’re going to do it,’ I think there needs to be a really good justification for why,” de Gooijer added.

White City town council is set to debate the amendments at its next meeting Feb. 2, 2026.