City council approved first reading for a new private school in Gateway, June 6.
A 4.47-acre portion of the land owned by Airdrie Koinonia Christian School (AKCS) Society could be rezoned from Industrial Business Park District to Commercial Mixed-Use District to accommodate a two-storey private school. AKCS is a private Christian school for students from Kindergarten to Grade 12, enrolment is 250 students with a growth projection of 400 students within 10 years. The school is currently located in southwest Airdrie.
“There is an increasingly high demand for schools to be built in Airdrie,” said Mark Spence, City planner.
The proposed school would be located on Gateway Drive NE. The area surrounding the proposed school site is designated as Industrial Business Park District, which allows for light manufacturing, warehousing and service industrial.
Spence said industrial uses that are associated with heavy manufacturing, hazardous materials or air and noise pollution are not permitted in the area.
“I am thinking of a number of other communities and quite often, private schools are in commercial areas so I’m not concerned about that,” said Alderman Glenda Alexander.
“I’m looking forward to hearing the response at the public hearing. I am happy with the success of this school and seeing it grow.”
Another concern raised by City staff was the increase in traffic in the area because there is no plan for school buses and it is located far from any residential developments, limiting pedestrian access.
“A recent study ultimately concluded that the proposed school would have a minimal impact on the adjacent road network and the results of analysis indicated that improvements to any of the intersections in the study area were not required,” said Spence.
Spence estimated the number of vehicle trips for 400 students at 181. He said the site is serviced and ready for development. The schools’ gymnasium and recreation facilities could be made available for public use or private functions, he said.
“I am in support of this going to a public hearing and seeing the response from the people,” said Alderman Kelly Hegg.
A date for the public hearing has not yet been determined.
City council approved first reading to rezone land in Gateway to accommodate commercial, retail and residential buildings, June 6.
The proposed motion would change 13.59 acres of land owned by Loblaws Properties West Inc. and Denizen Developments from Urban Holding District to Commercial Mixed-Use District and Regional Commercial District.
The area, located in the Gateway Business Park, would include office space, restaurants, retail space, a place for a hotel and residential living.
“I will vote in favour of this so it goes to a public hearing, but I have serious concerns about the traffic studies and the mix of residential and commercial and whether or not that can be successful,” said Alderman Murray Buchanan.
The main concern brought up by the Municipal Planning Commission (MPC) was the increase in traffic in the area.
“Specifically, it was unclear if the Main Street/Veterans Boulevard intersection had sufficient capacity for traffic upon build-out for Gateway stages one and two,” said Spence.
“(A recent) traffic impact study concluded that the intersections along Main Street corridor can adequately accommodate the full build-out of the Gateway lands based on anticipated population growth and projected that these intersections would not exceed acceptable capacity until 2015.”
The MPC recommended to council “in the interest of greater clarity and fairness to future development in the Gateway area the requirements for future Traffic Impact Assessments for every development be formalized to aid in orderly and professional development in the area.”
Spence said the amendment would bring the area into conformity with the corresponding Neighbourhood Area Structure Plan, the Community Area Structure Plan and the Airdrie City Plan. The City will continue to monitor the area’s traffic situation to ensure that future problems are identified well in advance of occurring, he added.
The public hearing date for the bylaw has not yet been set.
Encana Corporation presented its 2011 Municipal Outreach Presentation to council, June 6.
The presentation’s main focus was the Clearwater Business Unit located adjacent to Airdrie on the east side.
“We are working to increase transparency, public education, have higher standards of safety and reduce our service footprint,” said Michael Laurent, group lead for the Strathmore North Development Team.
“It is important that people in the surrounding areas have confidence in our safety and environmental stewardship.”
The Clearwater Business Unit is composed of 5.1 million net acres with 10,000 wells producing 450 million cubic feet of coal bed methane per day.
“We are listening to the local community’s concerns, using existing infrastructure when we can, keeping our footprint small and focusing on water protection and management,” said Laurent.
The Unit includes pad-style drilling, which uses one pad on the surface to drill four wells below, reducing the footprint. Laurent said the Clearwater Business Unit has potential for another 6,000 wells.
“The increase in wells will increase jobs and has indirect benefits such as spending on dining, hotels, restaurants and other retail businesses.
Coal bed methane adds to the value of the community we are in. We are here to stay.”
Chris Riege, group lead of community relations and community investment, said Encana is working hard to reduce common community concerns with oil and gas operations such as noise, traffic, dust and garbage.
He also mentioned Encana’s community investment program that gives back to local charities such as the Airdrie Mayor’s Run, the Airdrie Food Bank, Genesis Place and 4-H Clubs.
“We are very encouraged to hear you are looking to do more investing in Airdrie,” said Mayor Peter Brown.
Library card holders who have consistently not picked up their hold requests after receiving notification by phone, email and mail will have their hold request maximum reduced.
“People love to put books on hold and most people are respectful of the time and effort it takes to do this,” said Janine Jevne, director of the Airdrie Public Library.
“We have a long-standing history of education related to this program but this will be out last stance effort.”
Under the new bylaw, the maximum hold requests will be reduced from 20 to two.
