A special meeting of Airdrie City council on Feb. 11 was held so City Manager Paul Schulz could provide the Mayor and Aldermen with information about a request from the province for feedback on legislating the implementation of the Calgary Metropolitan Plan (CMP).
The CMP, drafted in May of 2014 by the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP), outlines how municipalities and counties in the region can work together to deal with issues related to growth including sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Implementation of the CMP has been stalled because not all parties in the region including, significantly, Rocky View County, are part of the CRP, according to Mayor Peter Brown.
“Right now we have a plan with a massive hole in the middle and to the south, which is Foothills and Rocky View County,” Brown said. “When we’re planning things out for the region in terms of growth nodes and where future bus depots are supposed to go and where GO trains are supposed to go and those sorts of things, we’re not planning with them. They have to be at the table for us to move forward.”
Minister of Municipal Affairs Diana McQueen held a meeting with all the mayors, reeves and chief administrative officers in the region on Jan. 21, according to Schulz, to discuss legislation of the CMP.
“Since 2009 and the development of the CMP (in 2014) there have been several processes including meetings with the rural counties to try to make changes to come back into the CRP at the request of the Province,” he said. “(McQueen) wanted the perspectives of not only those who are in but those who are out to talk about the options for legislation and to provide feedback.”
According to Schulz, attendees were presented with three options on Jan. 21, including maintaining the status quo, creating a new Growth Management Board under the Municipal Government Act that would allow the province to formally endorse the plan, or approving the CMP as a sub-regional plan under the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan (SSRP).
The SSRP was released by the province in July 2014 and sets the direction for the conservation and development of southern Alberta for the next 50 years.
According to Schulz, creating a Growth Management Board upholds the voluntary nature of the CRP and allows partnering municipalities to take control of the plan and how decisions are made while not making it mandatory for all municipalities to follow in the region.
Approving the CMP as a sub-regional plan under the SSRP has an advantage in that the Province can formally legislate the plan, including mandatory compliance, according to Schulz. Under this option, partnering municipalities do not maintain control and the Province administers the plan with any disputes going before cabinet.
Members of the Board of the CRP held a teleconference on Feb. 6 to discuss the implications of the two legislated options and ultimately decided to endorse neither because they did not fit the requirements of the CRP, according to Schulz. The Board sent a letter to Minister McQueen indicating a desire to seek a “made in the region solution” and indicating they would maintain the status quo.
According to Schulz, the best solution for Airdrie would be one that makes it mandatory for all municipalities in the region to comply with the plan. Creating a Growth Management Board whose decisions would be mandatory rather than voluntary would be one way to accomplish this.
Brown agreed, saying the current situation isn’t working in the best interests of all involved.
“To me, you have to all be at the table, otherwise, it’s just not effective. We need to work together to make sure we’re growing in the right way,” he said.
Council ultimately voted unanimously to follow the decision of the CRP Board and send a letter to McQueen indicating neither of the options would meet the needs of the City.
