The City of Chestermere is still waiting to hear a decision from the Minister of Municipal Affairs on a request to annex nearly 25,000 acres of Rocky View County (RVC) land – and has sent in an additional application to move forward with mediation in the event the annexation is refused.
“We want to make sure that we do everything possible to protect the best interests of Chestermere residents,” said Chestermere Mayor Patricia Matthews.
“We will continue to do that until a resolution is found to bad planning.”
According to Matthews, the annexation was brought forward as a response to RVC’s approval of the controversial Conrich Area Structure Plan (ASP). The document was given first reading in May 2015, after 10-hour public hearing where both Chestermere and the City of Calgary brought forward concerns about the proposal. However, the document received third reading in December 2015 – and Chestermere applied to annex the land just one week later.
“They had a lot of concerns they’d been voicing, and I suppose they tried to use the tools that they thought would work best in this particular case,” said Minister of Municipal Affairs Danielle Larivee.
“Certainly, the process they chose to use is unusual for the purpose they are trying to achieve.”
With a second request now submitted for mediation, RVC Senior Planner Richard Barss is hoping the County can work with its neighbouring municipalities to resolve any issues through a formal procedure. He said RVC staff spent nearly four months trying to accommodate the concerns of the neighbouring municipalities, but ultimately decided to move forward with the plan.
“We did make some progress, but in the end Chestermere instructed their staff not to do any more discussions with us,” Barss said.
“We are happy to enter mediation with both cities, which should be the first step in this process. Hopefully, we are successful in mediation and can resolve the issues. If we’re not, it will go to the Municipal Government Board who will adjudicate and make a decision based on technical matters.”
In the meantime, he said RVC will be unable to move forward with their approved plans for the Conrich ASP – or use the adopted plan to approve other applications for development within the area.
“My goal is to bring the leadership of the communities together to find really what is in the best interests of the communities. I think that’s what the people they serve deserve,” said Larivee.
“Obviously, there has been some tension for a long period of time that has gone unresolved, and I’m exploring all my options to find the best collaborative situation.”
According to Larivee, the end result will be a solution that will work to “serve the needs of Albertans,” and one that will take into account the impact on area residents.
“Depending on where we land, the amount of time it will take will vary,” she added.
“As soon as we land on whatever option we will move forward, we will be very open.”
