A variety of land use possibilities for Patricia Circle, which sits at the east end of town, will be put forward for the community next Monday.

The Jasper Community Sustainability Plan (JCSP) defines the areas as a “low density mix of one and one-and-a-half storey post-war houses and prefabricated modular homes.”

The area falls under a “special management land use district” and consists of about 23 houses and four lots that are currently zoned for green space.

Of those 23 houses, Kinder Morgan owns about 14 properties, but have told Parks Canada and the Town that they only need about seven or eight houses, said development officer for Jasper National Park Joe Polisuk.

Parks Canada also has four staff accommodation houses within Patricia Circle, which Polisuk said  were possibly up for redevelopment as well.

Parks Canada and the Municipality hired IBI Group to develop a draft redevelopment plan about the area.

“It consists of a series of options,” said Polisuk, “it’s just a plan, it’s meant to be phased in, or implemented over a long time.”

Though the area is currently zoned R2, for a two-dwelling district, the JCSP suggests one housing action could be “to accomplish a Patricia Circle Area Restructure Plan offering more efficient land uses and increased residential densities.”

Later the plan states, “rezoning may be considered to provide for greater residential densities”.

Furthermore, the 2002 Jasper Community Land Use Plan said the area had potential to be developed into 43 housing units.

While the community will have a variety of options put on the table next Monday, Polisuk stressed that “by no means are (they) obliged to adopt” these options.

Instead, the consultants were hired to explore the “economic feasibility of redeveloping” the area he said.

“We’re looking at what’s possible versus what’s feasible,” said Polisuk noting that there was the possibility of filling some vacant lands.

The importance of keeping the outdoor hockey rink at Patricia Circle was a must for many Jasperites throughout the JCSP’s community consultation.

Polisuk said at the last consultation with residents of Patricia Circle, it was one feature that people felt was important to the community and needed to be retained.

“It was identified by the residents as one of the key elements that they wish to retain,” he said.

One local resident, Steve Malcolm, who has helped maintain the outdoor rink wrote on the plan’s website.

“I have maintained the outdoor rink, at the Patricia Circle for the past six years along with all the other volunteers such as the fire dept, and local parents. Understanding that the future of this rink is in peril, as land may be re-allocated to housing, and seeing the amount of use we would get at this rink.”

The corner spaces of Patricia Circle were also identified in the JCSP as land that could be rezoned to “recreational open space” which aims “to provide open space for recreational uses and cultural heritage presentation.”

Anyone who wants to see what the future of Patricia Circle could be is encouraged to go to the open house on Monday December 14 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Parks Canada Administration Building.