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A Vancouver-based developer wants to take advantage of Saskatoon’s solar potential to build a unique sustainable community in the city’s southeast.

The concept involves building all homes in the community with solar panels on the roof. The roofs would be owned by the developer, not the homeowner, and collect energy to power the entire community.

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Paul Buitenhuis, vice-president of development with Arbutus Properties, appeared before city council’s planning, development and community services committee on Monday to explain the concept.

“We think it’s the first in Western Canada,” Buitenhuis told the committee. “We think it’s the first in the country.”

Like most of Saskatoon’s new neighbourhoods, it would include a mix of single-family homes and higher-density housing like apartments and townhouses.

Arbutus is considering developing a trapezoidal plot of land east of the Rosewood neighbourhood that is owned by the Franko family. It lies partly within city limits and partly in the Rural Municipality of Corman Park, although the portion in the RM is projected to be where Saskatoon will grow.