A Prince Albert city councillor has asked municipal administrators to review landscaping requirements for businesses in heavy industrial areas over concerns those requirements may be hindering development.

Ward 5 Coun. Dennis Ogrodnick said he knows of at least one business that declined to set up shop in those areas due to the landscaping regulations. He’s asked for a report on what impact reducing those requirements would have on the City.

“I want to be open for business,” Ogrodnick said during Monday’s council meeting. “If we can do something to change that (landscaping requirement), then it would be an advantage to the city, and to business.”

Heavy industrial properties are zoned as M1 under municipal zoning bylaws. They require businesses to landscape a minimum of three meters from the property line. The minimum can be reduced under certain circumstances at the discretion of a Development Officer.

Businesses are not free to landscape however they wish. City bylaws also dictate what kinds of plants and trees can be used, and how often trees must be planted (at least one for every 45 square meters).

Ogrodnick said he’s most concerned about industrial zones north of the river. He wants to make sure the City is doing everything it can to attract businesses, not chase them away.

“I’m all about aesthetics and looking (good) and landscaping,” he said during the meeting. “In North Industrial, I don’t think we need to be really, really stringent in making sure that everything looks beautiful and perfect.”

Large Lot Light Industrial (M3) and Airport Industrial Zoning Districts (M4) also follow the same landscaping bylaws as M1 properties. The laws are found under Section 8 of Bylaw No. 1 of 2019.