Foothills County council gave preliminary approval to a large residential development near Aldersyde but wants to see changes made before it proceeds.
A vote to support the Highfield & Rowland Acres Area Structure Plan (ASP) passed 5-2 on June 5, granting first reading to the proposal with the condition that amendments be undertaken.
The neighbourhoods of Highfield and Rowland Acres are proposed on either side of Highway 547 near Highway 2. They were the subject of a day-long public hearing in High River last month.
No amendments were finalized during the council meeting, but Reeve Delilah Miller said concerns include density, roads and the location of schools.
Combined, the new communities would span more than 1,100 acres and could house almost 5,000 people.
The plan submitted by developers calls for housing density of less than one unit per acre in Rowland Acres and 1.5 units per acre in Highfield.
Calgary Metropolitan Region Board (CMRB) policies state that density in the areas should be between six and eight units per acre.
“The pressure to have more density is there,” Miller said. “But I certainly wouldn't want to go as far as what they want us to, either.”
“We need to find a happy medium that fits better with the area and for our residents,” she said.
Councillors Rob Siewert and RD McHugh represent the areas slated for development and voted against the proposal.
Siewert said the project doesn’t go far enough to conserve agricultural land.
“It is an urban-style development in the middle of the country, and it wastefully eats up farmland,” Siewert said.
Miller said growth pressure in Foothills County means difficult decisions need to be made, and that the development is in an area identified for growth.
“We’re up against a city of a million-plus, and it’s either we grow along with the area, or we get left behind,” Miller said.
Planning director Heather Hemingway said many changes can still be made, and there are several steps yet to come before any development takes place.
“We would bring back a revised area structure plan,” Hemingway said, “so you could see these specific changes.”
Any changes would be approved by Foothills County council before the plan is submitted to the CMRB, which would happen before Foothills County proceeds with second reading of the proposal.
