Conrich-area residents, landowners and stakeholders had the opportunity to give their opinion on how they’d like to see the area look in the future.
Rocky View County (RVC) launched the public consultation process for the Conrich Area Structure Plan (ASP) with a workshop at the Prince of Peace Manor on Oct. 10 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
“We knew we would have a high-volume of turnout tonight so we came out with new ways of engaging people and we tried to get a lot of public interaction,” said RVC Senior Planner Richard Barss. He estimated more than 100 people attended.
The Conrich-area was formerly included in the 2004 Calgary-Chestermere Corridor. Barss said a lot of the land in that planning document was annexed by the City of Calgary. He added that new issues and concerns have come up since the federal decision to locate the CN Logistics Park in Conrich.
“There’s really been a change in development patterns and pressures, so we really need to re-look at how the area should be shaped and need a new plan to encompass the affected people’s visions for that,” said Barss.
The workshop began with a presentation of the planning process RVC intends to embark on over the next year, which will combine public consultation with policy development. Planners also talked about the objectives of the Conrich ASP. An open question-and-answer session followed.
“There was a lot of different interests on a lot of different topics, but not necessarily opposed interests,” said Barss, who added he was “very pleased” with the turnout and participation.
Multiple boards were set up around the room where attendants could write down their opinion on topics such as people’s greatest hope and fear for the future of Conrich; how important it is for Conrich to have a distinct identity from nearby municipalities; and how important it is to have a buffer area between major highways/developments and residential areas.
“A lot of landowners wanted to know how they can develop their land but the other challenge is knowing what is appropriate land to develop,” said Barss.
“There’s lots of infrastructure issues in Conrich that have to be dealt with. Stormwater is a big issue on the East side (of the County). We’re working collaboratively with Calgary and Chestermere to see what solutions we can come up with,” said Barss.
The workshop also touched on determining the importance of providing commercial services, the number of residents that people feel should move into the area over the next decade, and the importance of retaining agricultural land.
A petition station was set up for people that support eliminating train whistles at three public crossings in the Conrich area due to the CN Logistics Park. Barss said this is a concern that has been brought up by many residents in the area.
According to the County, eliminating whistles may create safety issues, so 66 per cent support from residents living within one mile of each crossing is required to bring the petition to RVC council.
To eliminate the whistling – a process that can take up to two years - the County also needs CN’s agreement, a safety assessment of the crossing, insurance purchased by RVC and it must comply with Transport Canada’s requirements.
Consultant Vince Verlaan, hired by RVC under Golder Associates to conduct the public engagement process, said the next workshop will be held in December.
“We’re going to come back with findings from tonight’s workshop and present policy options. The second step is to debate those options and have people give more insight,” he said.
