Unlike cities like Red Deer, which were caught unaware by rapid growth, Prince George has plenty of room to accommodate new commercial, industrial and residential development, city director of planning and development Dan Milburn said.
Prince George experienced rapid growth in the 1960s when the pulp and paper industry moved into the city.
"We're very well positioned to accommodate a boom of growth, if that happens. That has been in place since the 1970s," Milburn said. "We've encouraged significant growth, well beyond what actually occurred."
Planning documents from the '70s anticipated Prince George's population would reach 250,000 people by this decade, he said. Even the most recent Official Community Plan from 2001 anticipated significant population growth.
Based on that plan, neighbourhood plans exist today to accommodate over 10,000 new homes in Prince George, he said.
"City wide there is over 700 acres to accommodate new commercial growth - that's 700 acres of undeveloped, vacant or underutilized land," Milburn said.
The airport logistics park currently under development will have over 1,700 acres available for light industrial use along Boundary Road, he added.
"That is a huge amount of land that can accommodate a significant amount of growth," Milburn said.
Prince George's failure to grow to planned expectations has had a cost for taxpayers, he said. Roads past vacant lots still need to be paved and plowed.
A new Official Community Plan currently under development will attempt to focus new development in the city and encourage infill development. The new OCP will include a much more conservative population growth estimate, he added.
"We have a significant amount of infrastructure in place. Over estimation and over development can have cost implications for taxpayers," Milburn said. "If you don't get that growth... than you have a cost problem."
P.G. well-positioned to leverage megaprojects
Prince George is well-positioned to benefit from billions of dollars of megaprojects planned, or already underway, in the North, according to Initiatives Prince George (IPG) and city staff.
IPG president Tim McEwan said being the largest city in the North and centrally located on several major transportation routes will result in economic activity flowing the city.
In the case of two projects, the Thompson Creek Metals Mt. Milligan Mine and the Rio Tinto Alcan Kitimat Works Modernization, millions of dollars of work has already flowed to local firms, McEwan said.
"The Mt. Milligan Mine is a $1.3 billion capital spend. Prince George benefits in a whole host of ways," McEwan said. "Many of the workers in camp live in Prince George. From the purchase of goods and services... my information is well into the millions of dollars."
Activity from the mine ranges from the purchase of major equipment to hotel stays and restaurant meals for workers flown in, he said.
"The list is absolutely enormous."
Several local firms have won contracts for parts of Rio Tinto's $3.3 billion aluminum smelter upgrade, he added.
If the $5.5 billion Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline proceeds, Prince George will be centrally located along the B.C. portion of the 1,172-kilometre route, he said. The federal Joint Review Panel which is conducting the environmental review of the project began hearings this week in Kitimat.
Upgrades to the Pine Pass along Highway 97 will allow Prince George firms greater access to take part in construction of the $7.9 billion Site C Dam on the Peace River, if it gets approved, he added.
IPG has been actively promoting the city to company's like Enbridge, Thompson Creek Metals and B.C. Hydro, McEwan said.
"We're getting the word out about what we have to offer. We've got some terrific firms that do some tremendous work," he said. "[But] we've got to think big about opportunities outside just serving our local businesses."
While some of the megaprojects proposed or underway will have a fairly short-term impact on the economy, others will require ongoing service, maintenance and employment, he said. "We're seeing new firms looking at locating in Prince George."
