Business View Civil & Municipal Apr-2023

22 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 Being accessible to the business community and potential investors is another area that Stony Plain is currently focused on, and a land development inquiry process has been added to the town website. Levasseur elaborates, “People are encouraged to go on our website, ask a question, or share a concept or a project, and then they’ll be contacted by a member of the planning and development, engineering or economic development team, to talk them through their inquiry to bring their concept to life in Stony Plain.” Every effort is also made to make investing in Stony Plain as welcoming and easy as possible. “We view our developers, our homebuilders, and our businesses, as partners, and we want PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n Sameng Inc. www.sameng.com to work and walk alongside them as they bring value to the community,” she emphasizes. Communication with residents is also key, and Mayor Choy, Council, and the town’s administration pride themselves on their open-door policy. This accessibility is valued by residents and boosts community engagement. “We’ve always prided ourselves in being open and friendly,” boasts Choy. “It doesn’t matter how large of a community we become, the atmosphere in the community starts from the mayor and council and moves down. Personally, I’m also a small business owner, we’ve had our business in town for 53 years. Many residents know that if they can’t find me at the town office, they can find me over at my restaurant.” As for what comes next for the town of Stony Plain, Rudolph says she is looking forward to keeping up the momentum for environmental and social sustainability. In future plans, the mayor says there are several big initiatives in the planning stages. These include the redevelopment of 57th Avenue, a historic neighborhood that services a large portion of the population, including a new school. A recreation center is another major project in the works, which Choy believes will be a springboard for future growth. From an economic development perspective, Levasseur concludes, “We’ll be looking at how we are serving our residents and businesses and how we can continue to do better, and to grow the community to what we envision is 30,000 people in the near future.”