After making it through a public hearing, and lengthy discussion at the council table, a major residential development in Foothills County faces its biggest test yet.
Exemptions to regional planning policies will be needed if the Highfield & Rowland Acres Area Structure Plan is to get approval from the Calgary Metropolitan Region Board.
Foothills Reeve Delilah Miller said the main issue is going to be housing densities within the two proposed neighbourhoods.
“That’s what we’ll be having to defend,” Miller said.
The project will need exemptions to CMRB Growth Plan policies for housing density and for maximum Hamlet Growth Area size.
“This will be, I think, a bit of a test case for the board, to see what their appetite is to allow a lower density,” she said.
Highfield & Rowland Acres would include a variety of housing types, commercial and recreational areas, a school site and a fire hall.
The two neighbourhoods would span more than 1,100 acres on either side of Highway 547, just east of the Aldersyde overpass that crosses Highway 2.
During a public hearing in May, residential density was characterized as being 0.9 units per acre in Rowland Acres and 1.57 units per acre in Highfield, but it could end up being higher.
The plan being submitted to the CMRB calls for densities between 2.5 and 5 units per developable acre over the entire plan area.
Miller said the CMRB would like to see a range between eight and 21 units per acre.
“Foothills County doesn’t want those kinds of densities, and neither do our neighbouring municipalities,” she said.
“We’re not sure how (the ASP) will be received.”
Some minor adjustments were made to the ASP, including switching the location of the school and fire hall sites and tweaking a policy for secondary suites.
The original plan said secondary suites “shall” be permitted, but County staff suggested saying they “may” be permitted, which gives more flexibility over the 20-to-30-year development horizon, staff said.
Once the plan reaches the CMRB, no other changes can be made, and it will either be approved or rejected.
If approved, the plan would come back to Foothills County council for further approval.
The CMRB is made up of eight municipalities in the region. Six members are cities or towns, and only Rocky View County and Foothills County are rural areas.
Miller has long said the board favours urban-style development over less-dense rural development.
She said the plan is ready to submit and it could be on the board’s agenda in November.
